All That Glitters Is Just Black
by butimbroken
Summary: Buffy/Angel. Unfortunate circumstances lead Buffy back to her hometown. She's not the only one who's returned. Re-posted old story. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

Buffy's stomach started fluttering about an hour from reaching her hometown and as she got closer, passing by her late mother's best friend's house, it really began sinking in that she was really here, that she was back. Her headlights flashed against the green city limits sign as she passed over the train tracks. Her eyes darted to the right for a moment, looing at her old high school. A banner was hanging over the door, that some giant clock standing in the front yard to the school, but everything else looked to be the same.

Buffy got the edge of Dublin Lanes and smiled, the house she stopped at to let traffic pass so she could turn always had the best Christmas lights in town. She'd missed the holiday but could see the last of the decorations that had yet to be put away but more so she just remembered how it felt when she was little, always loving driving past here and seeing all the lights and everything.

After the two cars passed her by, she took her turn. She felt a flood of new memories hit her as she looked at the old houses as she passed them by, the streets she'd grown up knowing so well. Once crossing the railroad tracks again, she shivered knowing she was almost there. Her childhood home was found in a neighborbood that was basically a little circle, she decided to take the long way around... almost all of the houses on the three streets were empty, neglected. There were three new homes built into what used to be just an open field and each had fences around them, one had a pair of dogs barking at her car as she passed. She could remember how everything here used to look, how it felt, how it smelled... everything felt like it had fallen apart in the years she had been gone.

When she spotted the small white house, Buffy sucked in her breath. A white car she had never seen before was parked in the ditch. The shed that used to sit way back behind the house was now beside it, the house had some wear and tear to it but nothing that drastic, a few lounge chairs and a garden swing sat in the front yard.

Getting out of the car with great mental effort, Buffy frowned as she almost felt. Part due to the shoes she had on and part due to the rocks that filled the driveway. She also frowned at the unkept yard but it really wasn't different than anyone else's as far as she could tell.

Shaking her head, Buffy opened the back door of her vehicle and grabbed out as many bags as she could carry at once then forced herself toward the small house. The concrete walkway out front was the same, the one step the same, the screen door was new but the front door looked the same. The doorbell looked the same.

Buffy stood there, frowning again. She had no idea if she was supposed to ring it or just go in. She could see lights from inside, hear the television. Loud. Very loud. Her father's hearing hadn't gotten any better it would seem. Feeling awkward, Buffy finally pushed the tall, skinny doorbell and closed her eyes to try and listen harder to make sure it even worked.

She had to ring it again before the door opened, revealing her father, Hank Summers. He smiled, something she'd rarely ever seen him to in her life, then snapped out of it and looked embarrassed as he opened the door. "Come on in, come on in," he told her, still shaky excitement evident in his tone. His hand came out to touch her shoulder, quickly, before it dropped away.

"Hi," she said softly, looking around. "Sorry I was later than expected. I hope you didn't have to wait long or have something else planned."

He shook his head. "No, no. I wasn't doing anything. It's no trouble."

Buffy nodded, feeling rather nervous. She carried her bags over to the side, trying not to wince as she passed the blaring television. Dropping them quietly, she tugged at the hem of her shirt before looking back his way, still not daring to look at his face or meet his eyes. "I, uh, I still have some bags in the car," she said, forcing herself to walk back toward him and the doorway.

"You need any help?"

"It's not necessary," she mumbled but he was already following her out, grunting as he stepped down from the porch to the cold, hard ground. She felt her stomach rolling at the noise. Opening the side door, she reached in for more of her things, watching out of the corner of her eye as her father went around to the other side and did the same.

"This all you brought?" he asked.

She nodded. "It's all that I needed." She grumbled as she reached for her laptop for the third time, bags toppling over on her arms.

"I got it," he said.

She looked up, not looking at him. "Okay. Thanks." And with that, she ducked back out of the car and did her best not to fall over when she almost lost her footing again. She kicked the door closed and gave another quick look back at her only living parent before heading back for the house.

She heard the other door close and then his foot steps as he returned, opening the door and setting her things down in the floor. He held up her laptop in one hand, making sure she noted he had it, she nodded then he put it down in one of the chairs. He stood there awkwardly for a moment, making another grunt-like, cough-like noise, before taking a seat.

She took in a deep breath, trying to keep it as quiet and unseen as possible, then took a seat on the sofa. Unable to stop herself, she began looking around the house, feeling so out of place. "It's different," she heard Hank say.

She nodded. "I can see that. You must have done a lot of work to the place."

And she could... the house was mostly empty, no one lived here anymore. It had been fixed up a bit though... changed. The carpet was all gone, replaced with cheap wood flooring. The furniture... a few pieces there were, was different. The only piece she knew was one of the chairs at the back wall. The other two, the sofa she sat on, the table to the side were new... well, old but new to her anyway. There was a heater she thought she recognized in the corner that was turned on. The air conditioner in the window she knew, the draped around it she did not. There were two stacks of old records on the floor to the side. She knew those. Random things on the table she knew, most she didn't. Many things on the wall she knew, some she didn't. The blaring television sat on top of another, a very, very old and large set. The bottom one she knew. There was a DVD player next to the smaller tv that sat on top, their remotes laying on there too. There were speakers strung up and mounted in the corners of the room. There was one bookcase to the right of the television and by the door. A few knickknacks she knew. It was mostly empty though. It had some VHS tapes set on it, some DVD's laid out carelessly too.

It looked different. It felt different.

This wasn't her house anymore.

"If you plan on staying you might want to call and get the gas hooked back up. There's some electric heaters around the house but you might need more if the winter keeps raging on like it has been."

She nodded. "I'll do that. The electric and water should be good for now though, right?"

"Yeah, we always have those running... just in case. Come out here sometimes, still working on redoing the place and all."

She nodded again, her fingers twitching in her lap.

"There's a bed in the back room."

"Okay."

"There's a dresser and mirror in there, too. A small table, chest and some other littler things... I don't know what all..." he mumbled off.

"That should be fine. In the back bedroom you said, your old room?"

He coughed. "No, I meant the other one..."

"Oh, off to the right there?"

"Yes."

"Oh, okay. Should be great."

"That room is just filled with a few junk things. Been working on fixing it up when have the time and money to spare."

"Okay."

"Then the other one, your old room, it has another couch in it... a few tables too. The washer and dryer are still in the utility room. There's a few fresh towels in both bathrooms, some soap and shampoo and all that. I think there's a hair dryer under the sink in the bathroom, the full one, you know."

"Thanks."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them for several moments. "Did you eat?" he asked.

"Hmm? Yes, I stopped a few times on the way and just outside of Saint Louis."

"I didn't know what to get you, what you like these days but I put a little bit of food in the fridge. It's not a lot... just some drinks and fruit mostly. There's a few microwavable things I just grabbed up. I'll have to bring you by a microwave tomorrow though, I forgot we had to switch ours out with the one we had out here a few months back. Think you'll be okay until then?"

"Yes, I will be fine."

"There's, uh, there's a list of some numbers I put on the fridge too. Just for Casey's or Crossroads if you want to order something or ask them something before you go up there, if you want. They're still in business though many others have come and gone. There's a fairly new place out by, uh, out by Tommy's... you remember Tommy..." Buffy nodded. "Out by his house. Forget the name but they have pretty good deals out there. Used to work with the owner many years back, guess he choose a new direction."

Silence.

"Owns it there with his son."

Silence.

She honestly had no idea what to say to him.

Buffy felt her phone vibrate and grabbed into her pocket for it, pushing the top up so the screen would brighten. She smiled down at it, reading her text message from one of her friends from back in NC who were wondering if she made the trip in one piece. She hurried to text back, letting the worrywart know she was perfectly fine.

Even if she wasn't.

"Who's your phone with?"

Buffy fought not to jerk at the sudden reappearance of his voice. "Sprint."

He nodded. "They any good?"

"For the most part. On the drive was in and out in certain areas of course, but yeah. I like them. Had them for a number of years now."

He held up his own. Buffy felt odd. Her father had a cell phone. Weird. "Ours we can't get any service most the time. Especially out there at the house. Here it does pretty okay but not worth a thing out there. I left my number, both this one and one for the house, on the fridge too. If I'm at the house I can't use this thing."

"Okay." Another bout of silence. A few text messages came. One call she didn't take. "I guess you're probably tired."

"It was a long drive."

"I should probably be getting back anyway." He sat for another bout before pulling himself out of the chair. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out two keys and walked over to Buffy, handing them out to her. "Had to get these made, didn't see a point but she did so..."

Buffy forced a smile and reached out to take them from him. They'd never once locked the house up in all the times she'd lived here.

Yep. Things had changed.

"I'll probably stop by in the afternoon tomorrow, maybe around one or so."

"Alright."

"You remember how to use the heater? Is it going to be enough? There's some extra blankets in that bag," he pointed to a large white bag in the green chair she knew from childhood. "Along with a few pillows underneath."

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

His hands went into his pockets and he scuttled back a few feet. "Well, um, I should get going. I try not to drive at night."

"I'm sorry I was later than expected," she told him again.

He started to say something but then just shook his head. "I'll be by tomorrow."

Buffy swallowed, watching him take the last few steps to the door. His hand was reaching out to it when she cleared her voice. "Thank you for letting me stay here. I do appreciate it."

He turned his head and Buffy finally looked at him. He'd aged but still looked the same for the most part. His eyes met hers and she forced herself to hold it, for a whole second, before quickly looking away. "It's your house," he told her before leaving.

She sat there, listening for the sound of his car, watching the headlights come on, then the sights and sounds of his driving away and leaving her alone. "No," she whispered, "Dad, it isn't."

OoOoO

Buffy stared at the closed door, which she now noticed had been painted on the inside, for several moments. She did her best to remain calm, listening to her breathing. Given the paper-thin walls of the house, it wasn't all she heard but it's what she focused on for a long while. Rubbing her eyes, Buffy stood up and took the few steps toward the resting remotes and first turned the volume down a few dozen notches, then fumbled with them until she got both the DVD player and television turned off. Next, she sat them both back down, took a deep breath, then looked around the small living room.

It still didn't feel real to be here. And it certainly didn't feel comfortable.

Buffy scratched a hand lightly through her hair and began to mentally imagine things as they used to be, how she remembered, how she left them. She pictured the old couch instead of the one now in its spot, the painting that used to hang above it, the hanging oil lamp that her mother had loved that was off to the side. Buffy remembered the collection of antique clocks that used to be scattered around the room, the large coffee table that she'd stubbed her toe on so many countless times. She thought of her grandfather's barber chair that had sat in the corner until it had been moved to the garage, the photos that used to set on shelves and stands, knickknacks that took up all this empty space, the tan chair that used to sit beside the front door, her parents marriage certificate that was mounted above it, the old computer desk that rested across the way...

Making her way into the kitchen and dining room area, Buffy's eyes widened. It was tragically empty, more so than the living room. The walls had been painted, a flowery design edging the tops. There were new curtains on the two windows. There was a nice amount of wall decor in the two rooms, some things she noticed, most she didn't at all.

It made her feel all the more out of place.

The title floor was gone along with the carpet, wood everywhere. The refrigerator was the same, ugly as ever. It didn't have the tiny decorative towel wrapped around the bottom handle anymore. She glanced at the side of it, seeing the pages her father had mention and feeling like she'd just been punched in the stomach when she saw that they were held up by two magnets she couldn't help but recognize. They were dalmatians, cartoons from 101 Dalmatians. She couldn't remember anything about where she'd gotten them, any memory with them, but they struck home. One hand came out to run across them, feeling sicker by the moment. She swallowed, opening the doors to check inside. There wasn't much in there, as expected, but that wasn't a big deal. Closing them back, she walked farther into the room.

There was some alphabet magnets on the other side and a trash can and a toolbox on the ground. That was it. The stove, oven, cabinets and everything else was the same.

The door out to the garage still had a splash of white paint across it. She thought about looking out there, took a step, but then changed her mind. Instead, Buffy paced the small kitchen, running her fingers over the counter. In her mind she saw the long table that used to take up the room, the ugly green leaf designed chairs that had sat around it. The dining area was empty besides the stuff on the walls and a stack of old newspapers. This area had once held that very table but later would become her mother's day room. There had been a sofa moved into it, pushed against the wall where she would often sleep. The only time she'd sleep in her own bed was at night. There had been another heater in there, a small table, maybe two, one had held a small television set and where she'd rest her books on. There'd been a tray that held one of the phones and an answering machine. It was often littered with snacks.

The hall felt lighter, less daunting. And again, smaller. So very much smaller than she remembered. There was a key hook that was on the wall, she recognized it, but it was in the wrong place. At least she thought it was. There had never been much in set in the hall so seeing it empty wasn't that big of a deal, the feeling or lack of on the other hand... She walked over to the thermostat and frowned. At least it was the same, too. Even if unhelpful and not working.

Going back down the hall, she opened the closed door to the utility room. She opened the closet door inside seeing a few towels and washcloths, laundry detergent, a few candles, matches and a few things she didn't even know what were.

Closing the door softly, she looked at the furnace, then the old washer and dryer. There was a back door in this room, the curtains it once wore no longer there, no replacements either. There were steps on the other side, formally a fence. It was too late and dark to see what all was out there now so she made a note to check into that tomorrow.

The door to the half-bath was open so she peaked inside. It was newly painted, whites and pinks, flowery too. The toilet and the sink looked the same, the mirrored medicine cabinet too. Everything was pink. There was a toilet brush holder on the floor next to a small wastebasket, a towel hung in the new metal ring on the wall. There was some soap seated on the side of the sink. Looking inside the cabinet, Buffy found an unopened toothbrush, some Advil and some floss. Not much had changed here, some things taken away, some things added, but nothing was drastic. Maybe the lack of clothes... but other than that...

The two bedrooms on the right had their doors open, the master bedroom which was located at the end was shut, the bathroom which was all the way at the end on the left was open as well.

Making a stop inside the first door on the right, which was formally her bedroom, Buffy flipped on the light. Off in the right corner was the couch her father mentioned pushed along the wall. It had a few pillows on it, a few blankets folded on top of it as well. There was a nightstand at both ends of it. On the one in the far corner, she found two penny banks in the form of ET. One had "Buffy" written on it, the other "Summers." There was an old clock at the very back and there was an old photo of her in a frame on the small table as well. She lifted it up, studied it for several moments before putting it back down. On the wall there was another clock in the corner by the nightstand, then two long mirrors she'd never seen before placed around an old painting she did know very well. On the other wall, there were a few grouped items, most she recognized, some which had been there when she'd left even. Back by the door, there had been a tiny shelf which was field with old bottles she remembered always being in her room. Walking over to the closet, Buffy found it empty besides a few empty hangers, a pair of her fathers, she assumed, boots and an umbrella from when she was much younger. It was bright pink and from Silver Dollar City in Branson. It was very girlie, pinks and purples on it, flowery designs, swirls. Her name had been inscribed on it in two places.

Buffy walked back over toward the door, sighed and leaned against it. Again, her mind went back in time. She saw the red carpeting to this room instead of the wood, she saw the red curtains and drapes, not the white ones the windows wore now.

The next bedroom over, which apparently was her new room, had the bed as promised, complete with pillows, sheets, blankets. There was a nightstand on the far side, a bookshelf, dresser and mirror and a wooden chest inside. On the nightstand rested a lamp but nothing else. The shelf had the box set of Little House on the Prairie books, a Worlds of Fun lava lamp type hourglass thing with purple goo inside, a few figure decoration things, fake flowers... little nothings. Inside the closet she found a few old trucker hats, another pair of boots, some of her fathers belts, and a few more empty hangers.

Another far cry from what it used to be.

This room used to have blue carpeting, two twin beds, a number of small end tables, nightstands. There'd been the largest possible shelf that ran from one end of the room to the other. On it... was everything you could imagine. There'd been books, movies, cd's and tapes, records even, baseball cards, dolls, action figures, collector's plates, trophies, photographs, footballs, baseballs, autographs pictures, vases... everything. She wondered how they'd even got that damn thing out of here.

Buffy headed across the hall to the bathroom. More new paint. New shelves, new space saver, new bathtub and shower set up even. Gone was the ugly green tub, in was a lovely white porcelain one, glass doors for the shower, a steel shelf holding soap and hair products in the corner. There were towels, paper towels, toilet paper, washcloths, so forth laid out. Soaps, toothbrush holders, toothpaste, floss, mouthwash. Not a lot going on in here. There had formally been a white shelf that sat across from the toilet, it held more little knicknacks and doohickeys. Books had set upon it, held the lotions and make up, hair rollers. There'd been a small table that formally had set between the sink and commode, now just a wastebasket laid there to the side, which used to have an electric heater setting on top of it as her mother loved taking baths but hated getting out to cold air. It was a habit Buffy had found she'd taken with her. Buffy pulled open the sliding drawers, checked under the sink. She found a few unopened toothbrushes, some brushes and combs, cleaning supplies, hair products including the dryer she'd been told about.

With shaking hands, Buffy reached for the closed door to what used to be her parents bedroom. On the walls there was a number of old paintings, all of which Buffy knew well. Stuff was piled on the floor, few tools, books, car magazines, wood pieces, junk. Stuff that would certainly belong to her father. It was kind of messy in here. She didn't recognize much of anything, certainly not the room.

Gone was all the junk from the closet, the large pillows, clothes, bean bags, stuffed animals. Gone was the long table that rested over there, it'd held the alarm clock, later another television, some clocks, photos... There'd been a smaller table on the other side of the room that held more photos, including some of her all time favorites which were now lost. Gone was her parents huge waterbed, which wasn't surprising given it'd been moved out of there about a year and half before all hell broke loose anyway, but it never seemed the same. When the waterbed had remained, there'd been a huge, huge headboard that had three sections of shelves to it. Books had filled the spaces, books and random photo albums, old letters, random this and thats. Later, a smaller, regular bed had taken it's place, a few dressers added, a comfy regal looking chair...

Buffy stared at the space where the bed, the second one, had once been. She pictured it, clear as day. Pictured the two dogs they'd had at the time, that included the mean one who'd tried eating down the door, having moved in here at the end. How they knew something was wrong, guarded and protected. Never left Joyce to be lonely. She pictured the bed, she pictured her mother. The last time she'd seen her mother in this house, last time she'd ever heard her voice was in this room, in that spot, in that bed. She hadn't been coherent, had no idea probably what she was saying, but Buffy remembered and it shook her to the bones. Even now, she found herself shivering. Buffy blinked the tears out of her eyes and gave the room one last eye sweep before hurrying out, closing the door behind her.

After taking her walk down memory lane, Buffy returned to the living room where she locked the door and then started gathering up her things. She decided she'd unpack tomorrow and just changed into sleep clothes, took care of her nightly business, then crawled into bed and hoped for sleep.

It didn't come easily though. It was too damn quiet. And the silence, the random sounds of nature, was too loud. She missed the never ending sounds of cars on the highway, a lullaby she'd come so used to over the years. She heard a train blow by, but it wasn't the same and had been so long since she'd even heard one. It excited her, this familiar sound from her childhood, but it wasn't the same.

OoOoO

Buffy woke up to the sounds of people talking, doors opening and closing, cars. Not a mass of cars driving on the highway a good distance away, no, a single, very loud, car starting across the street.

Again, yay for paper-thin walls.

And noisy, noisy neighbors at ungodly hours. Kids were screaming, laughing, running around. A baby next door was crying. It seemed her old neighbors had moved on, replaced now with these people. Buffy pulled pillows and the covers over her head to try and block all the noise out, which worked at least for awhile, then more people started their morning and she knew she was doomed so gave up.

Buffy went through her bags, grabbing out some clothes and such and headed for the bathroom where she took a long, hot shower.

She took her time drying off, no help from a warm heater, and getting ready. She carried in a few bags when she'd come over and had some stuff laid out here from last night. She'd mostly just bothered with her basic toiletries last night but began to organize a few other products as she went about getting dressed and fixing her face.

Buffy had no idea how long she was planning on staying here so wasn't sure how comfortable to get just yet, not that that seemed like something bound to happen anytime soon anyway. But she was trying.

Buffy grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen before returning to the bedroom where she began to put away some of her clothing, set a few things up in the room. She did her best to keep busy, her mind on what she was doing, not what all had happened, not on what would be.

She hadn't been home once in the past six years, hadn't spoken to most anybody either. It came with some dread. In some cases: excitement, overall: dread.

OoOoO

When she got tired of unpacking, Buffy did as she promised the night before and checked out the backyard. It was kind of messy, unkept. The dog fence was gone, there were two junky cars parked out there, metal and wood stuff kind of scattered about. Loveliness all around. It was better taken care of from the others she saw around though, had that going for it. The couple with the baby right next door had a huge fence and some mean looking dogs in it.

Buffy padded down the hall, back to the kitchen to slice up some fruit and make a quick snack for her breakfast. Having no other choice, she ate in the living room, the makeshift bowl, as there was none in the house, setting in her lap. She'd brought with her a notebook and pen and while she nibbled, Buffy began making a list of what supplies she'd need to go out and buy. Next, she made a list of what tasks she needed to at the very least get started on. Then a list of people she needed to contact back home, well, her NC home.

By the time she was finished, so was her meal.

OoOoO

When Hank showed up, Buffy had just finished writing another quick e-mail on her laptop. She padded back out of the bedroom to greet him, seeing him carrying in the promised microwave and setting it up for her. "I also brought you by a coffee maker and juicer, I know you never liked coffee but... anyway..."

Buffy smiled softly. "I still don't," she told him, "but thank you. It comes in handy. I can go out and get them if you'd like..."

He looked her over for a moment then handed over the keys, finishing up working on the new appliance already in the house, making sure it worked properly. He did the same with the others as well. All for which Buffy thanked him. And meant it. "Are you hungry?"

"I had some fruit earlier but I was thinking about going into town or something."

"Can I take you to lunch?"

Buffy chewed on her lip, fighting down her nervousness before nodding. She didn't know how good of an idea this was going to turn out to be but she decided to go with it. "Let me just go get my jacket."

OoOoO

Buffy was a bundle of nerves as she rode in the passengers seat of her father's car, worse when they got to the "family" Mom & Pop joint in town. She tugged on her jacket as they walked toward the door, opening the first, then the second, then waiting for a waitress or waiter to take them over to a table.

The owners had changed, probably more than once, and Buffy didn't recognize their names nor their faces, and the woman behind the front desk didn't seem to recognize her any either. There wasn't much of a crowd in there, least not yet, and at first glance, as far as she could see anyway, Buffy couldn't say she spotted one familiar face. Then, the waitress came out, and that was the start of it.

Within seconds, she was being gushed over, being told a million things and asked twice as many. Getting shown to their table, a few others spotted her, knew her from way back when, and the same cycle. Those who didn't know her, well, now they did as she was introduced and then spoke of and to non stop. By the end of the day, if not only the hour, Buffy was sure the entire county would have caught wind of her return. Buffy had known it was bound to happen, it had to, but that didn't mean she liked it. Nor was she truly prepared for it.

OoOoO

Hemery was no home to any mall, any known retail location. There's no Walmarts here, no McDonalds, no Starbucks. There's no movie theaters, bowling alleys, no arcades. The closest thing to having anything mainstream hit this town was several years ago Pizza Hut used to park a trailer out in a almost always abandoned parking lot on a weekend every once in awhile. You could drive out there, get in line, order and then come back to pick it up in an hour or so. After that, really the closest second place were the Family Dollar, Dollar General and formally a Dollar Store. The Dollar Store had since burned down. The other two were the only place in town where you buy many objects, and it was way beyond annoying.

The heart of the town rested in one stretch of land, though using either term "heart" and "town" were usually pretty laughable. Missouri Route 133 goes straight through the middle of town, runs along side what is considered "town." There's series of old run down buildings on either side of the road out there, most are empty, sometimes one will open up but new businesses never last so they're gone before you even known it around here.

That is where most of the permanent fixtures of the town lie though. There's down at the end The Burger Stand's building, the fairly new Daycare center... then cross over the tracks and there's MOCA on one side, a never open fabric shop but it remains... there's two banks a good enough distance from one another on this stretch of land, there's the Post Office, a hardware store that often changes hands, a few bars, the library, the office for the main real estate family in town, the pharmacy... there's a tire shop, across from it the main mechanic and tow shop, the other two gas stations other than the former Texaco, again close by not a few buildings in between them, there's the Mom & Pop restaurant suited for families her father had taken her to, the only one where you can actually sit and have the meal at... there was the hotel next door to it, the police station, a hair salon, laundry mat, the local newspaper's office, a few churches, the town florist. If you wanted to count it, you could even bring in the second and main funeral home.

That was basically "town."

Of course, there was also the fact that the train tracks run from one end to the other in a horizontal line near the North end of the town was there too.

Other elements of the town included the Elementary and High School. You have the park, nothing special about it, the town swimming pool and baseball field. There's a small clinic then another doctor who's willing to go out for house calls or to let anyone drop in if they need to, and there's also a nursing home. The town has one grocery store, then one deli and the gas stations. There's a bird feed store, another of those that you never really know if they've actually truly been open before. There's a few churches, cemeteries, the fire department, and even a vet way outside of town. There's two former Lee's Jeans factories, both of which have been shut down for many, many years. One was turned into a factory for water sports, though who knew if it was actually ever in business either. There seemed to be a lot of that going on. The other had been turned into a number of things, these days it was supposed to be some window and glass plant. That was the last Buffy heard of it anyway.

There was a few smaller real estate people trying to make a buck, starting up a small business, seeing what happens. Also a new barber shop was in town, a few insurance businesses, a tax adviser and there was a small antique shop ready to open its doors soon. None of which had any real hope of making it, but people kept trying. Hemery, according to Wikipedia, had a population of 1,805 as of the 2000 census. The total land adding up to 2.3 miles. It's not hard to understand why things are the way they are.

OoOoO

Buffy really didn't feel like driving any further than she had to, so she did her best to complete her shopping in town, even if it would have been more emotionally relaxing if she had. Countless people continued to spot her, come over, and try and catch up and pry into her life. She understood it, but again, didn't have to always like it. But, Buffy smiled and answered and listened, she engaged in the annoying conversations and tried to remain positive, even in her pissed off mind.

As different as her house had become, everything else seemed to have remained exactly the same. Every time she went in somewhere, it was exactly as she remembered for the most part. The only real shocker came over at the BP Junction Pit Stop station where she found the wall of VHS movies had been taken down. Other than that, everything was right where she remembered it.

After loading up on a lot of snacks and junk food throughout her day, Buffy decided she'd head over to the grocery store to pick up some more healthier food to stock up on. She was a little surprised to see the new paintjob, but other than that, all the same. Inside, she knew her way around, it flooded back to her the second she walked in. Pretty soon, though if she hadn't been stopped time and time again it would have been a lot sooner, she was back up front pushing her cart in line at the checkout.

OoOoO

After having put the groceries and other supplies away, after she made a few phone calls and even watched a movie, Buffy slipped her shoes back on and decided to walk down the street to see if her uncle was home just down the road. She had a flood of memories hit her as she walked up the driveway and porch, coming to knock on the front door.

She heard a dog barking, followed by a second one, and soon found the little pooches' heads as they tried peaking out the window, making a terrible mess of the blinds as they did. After another knock, she heard a bird chirp loudly and chuckled to herself. She always hated that damn thing. She knew it had to be the same parrot too, they hated the thing as well so surely wouldn't have went out and got a new one. Other than that though, no noise, no people coming to the door. Buffy tried a third time before giving up.

She'd planned to just head back to the house and see what else there was to be done, but instead she found one of her few remaining neighbors running toward her when she'd turned around. Buffy smiled and did her best to brace herself for the monster of a hug she received, and to remember to respond to it.

For almost two hours, Buffy ended up on the old woman's porch, just yapping away about life. She did her best to avoid talking about herself, as she often did, certainly anything that had to do with why she was back. She danced around it, and was noticeable about it too it seemed, it was mentioned but she never pressed.

OoOoO

It was just starting to get dark outside when she finally returned back to the house. She waved at the male from next door as she walked inside, trying to determine who he was... he looked familiar but she couldn't seem to place him. She flipped on the lights which were now needed and plopped down on the couch, picking up the phone she'd left behind and groaning at the number of missed calls and text messages. One of them however ended up being her long, lost friend, Willow Rosenberg. Buffy felt her entire face light up when she heard her friends voice.

For many years she had lost contact with the dear red haired girl, but then they'd randomly come back into contact, speaking in various ways online or on the phone. She hadn't seen her since about a month or so since she'd moved and they were both extremely excited for their reunion. Which, was apparently what Willow had called to ask about, wanting to work out a time they could get together.

Buffy went through the rest of the messages before rushing her fingers to dial Red up.

The two girls chatted in pure excitement for hours, talking about the past, the present, the unsure future. They made their plans to get together the following night, spoke some about their lives these days. They joked and laughed. "It'll be so good to see you again, Buffy."

The blonde smiled. "You two," she answered, finally meaning it for once.

OoOoO

Buffy went to bed earlier than what she found in the realm of normal, because she was still quite sleep deprived and also because she knew she'd be up early again, which she was, thanks to her loud neighbors and their own morning routines. She showered, ate a small breakfast, dressed and did her best to wake up and prepare for the day. When she felt good enough about it, Buffy went out to her car to head back into town.

Knowing she was going to need work around here until, and if, she headed back, Buffy decided to try applying just about everywhere around town. Most, of course, were not hiring but she'd go in, see, and end up chatting for an average of thirty five minutes at each stop. Tomorrow she planned to branch out into close-by cities, but it didn't hurt to get this over with here already she figured.

Buffy avoided certain buildings, at first anyway, until she finally dragged her feet into them, just in case. The job market around these parts wasn't exactly booming after all.

With a loud sigh, she hurried out of the tire and muffler shop and jogged across the road to the mechanic. She waved at one of her old classmates who was discussing something or other with one of the few employees and ducked into the tiny shed-like building. She couldn't remember actually having ever come in here before so quickly looked around, taking it in.

"Can I help you, Miss?"

Buffy turned and smiled at the grease-covered man. "Hi, I'm Buffy Summers," she said, holding out her hand. He wiped his off on a blue towel before taking hers. "I was wondering if you were possibly hiring right now? I just moved back to town and am trying to get set up..."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

She almost laughed. "I was thinking... maybe answer phones or something? I don't know," she drew her eyebrows together and gave her best pathetic look his way.

He chuckled after a moment. "See those boots sticking out from under that car?" he asked, pointing a finger out of the window toward the lot. Buffy side stepped to see since a tower of supplies were in her way and nodded. "Check with him."

"Oh, okay, thanks," she said as cheerfully as she could. He shook his head but said nothing more. Buffy swallowed and cleared her throat as she made the short walk toward the car the booted person was lying under. "Excuse me?" she called out, her head tilting on instinct.

She heard a thud. "Yeah?"

"Um, hi, I was told to come out here and talk to you about..."

"What can I help you with?"

"Um, well I was wanting to see if you were currently hiring? Maybe like a secretary or something? I brought a resume with me if you'd like to see it... or if I could even just leave it with you to keep on file or something, that would be great."

She heard a few clunks, metal hitting metal, a few muttered words she couldn't make out. It seemed he was just planning to ignore her though. She looked around wearily for a few moments before giving up. She glared at the boots then had just walked around them when he came sliding out from underneath the Pontiac.

Buffy's eyes widened as his brown eyes met hers then he gave her a one over before standing. She felt all the air sucked from her lungs, and then complete and utter embarrassment when she ended up taking a step back and tripping over some weird looking contraption and landing hard on her ass.

Angel grabbed the clipboard from the tray nearby and looked it over, flipping over the page he eyed her, watching as she stood back up before finishing it.

Buffy was pretty sure she had never in her life been so embarrassed. She honestly wanted nothing more right now then the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

She'd just started to turn when she heard him. "You're hired. Come by sometime in the morning and we'll get you set up."


	2. Chapter 2

Throughout the night, while Buffy tossed and turned for the most part, snow had fallen over the small town. Buffy noticed it through the windows of her bedroom first, then again in the bathroom. Now, she let out a little groan as she stepped out onto her snow covered porch and looked around.

Buffy loved winter. She loved the cold, loved snow. Winters in North Carolina never compared to this, not once. In the winter season she'd always find herself missing it back here, for this alone. Sure, she'd seen snow, had cold weather to do battle against, but it wasn't the same. Hell, there had even been two years in there where there hadn't been any snow at all. She hadn't been able to wrap her around it then, and not now either.

The road was covered, heavily enough. There were a few trackings in it, a few cars, some footprints. She knew the town wouldn't be all that much better. In this regard, city life had certainly spoiled her she knew. The area, the neighborhood, in which she'd been living had a lovely crew who in the summer would mow the yards and tend to the gardens, in winter they would plow the street to their homes and shovel the drive. The city and more so the traffic would take care of the rest of the streets.

And that just wasn't going to be happening here.

With a shiver, Buffy crossed her arms over her chest and stepped down to the walkway, then started making her way toward the drive for her car. Seeing a neighbor coming out to walk her dog, Buffy waved as she slide inside. As she waited for the vehicle to warm, Buffy checked herself over again in the mirror... hating herself for it all the while... more so now over the fact winter was not being too kind to her, in her eyes.

She groaned for even caring.

She hadn't, not until yesterday. And that pissed her off all the more.

Buffy poked at her face, applied another coat of chapstick, then muttered out a string of curses at the static wrecking havok on her hair and for shocking her a few times.

Carefully pulling out of her drive, Buffy took a left turn. She heard on the radio that the schools had been cancelled so she wasn't surprised to see a couple of kids out enjoying the bright white treat already.

OoOoO

Sitting in the warmth of the car, Buffy rubbed a hand down her face, again wondering why in the hell fate was being so cruel and why she was going along with it. She did her best to ignore the few employees standing out in the freezing, watching her. She knew a face or two but couldn't place them well enough.

With a sigh, Buffy climbed out into the cold air and began walking toward the men. She smiled shyly and waved her glove covered fingers a bit as she walked toward the building. From the open door, which was propped up by some old, dirty, brown barrel, she'd seen Angel pacing about so that's where she'd decide to head toward. Even though nerves were screaming at her to do the complete opposite.

Inside, Buffy locked eyes with Spike who's head jilted backwards in surprise upon seeing her. He tilted it to the side some before poking at Angel's shoulder. When he got his attention, Spike them pointed at her. Angel's head slowly turned and he too locked eyes with her. Buffy felt herself blush and hated it so quickly looked away. He continued to look at her for a moment then went back to his clipboard and mumbled something to himself before pointing over to the corner. "You can hang your coat up there."

Buffy looked at the rack, it had a few already set up on it, then wearily at the open door. She debated for a moment, then despite better judgement, went and hung her lock, warm jacket up on the rack. She cringed as she slid her gloves off, feeling them already turning numb, and tucked them away in the pockets of her discarded coat. Turning back around, she tried to keep a grip on her shivering, rubbed her hands together a few times then crossed her arms over her chest.

Angel watched her for a moment, then he came around the large table and across the room toward the door. With a few swift kicks he knocked the barrel out of the door and out of the way. Stepping back, he waited for it to slowly close, then went back to the table and picked up his clipboard and stuck his pen back in his mouth.

When he nodded for her to take a seat she did. He perched himself on the edge of the cluttered desk, muttering to himself, sometimes removing the ballpoint to scribble something down. All the while he did this, Spike tended to two phone calls. One he announced was a canceled appointment, the last was asking for a tow. Angel nodded, finished what he was writing then looked toward the blonde haired Brit. "Alright, take Parker with you."

Spike shot him a look. "Me? Why do I have to go?"

Angel shot him a look of his own. "What do you think you do around here? You're always 'Who do I have to go?' 'Why do I have to do this?' Quit whining."

Spike gave another dirty look, they held each others gaze for a long pause, then Spike made his way over to the coat rack, slipping off his dusty, old leather on. "Ponce."

Angel responded with pointing a finger toward the door. Spike muttered as he walked toward it, opened it and yelled for Parker, slinging some insults at Angel in the process.

"So..." Angel trailed off after a moment of silence.

"Buffy."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I know who you are."

She blushed again. She'd kind of hoped he'd have forgotten that.

OoOoO

Liam Angelus. Or Angel, as she secretly referred to him. And many of her friends back in high school had picked it up as well. He was three years ahead of her. And she'd been painfully, embarrassingly in love with him.

Something in which he knew, to her horror.

Her friend Faith had been how, running up to him one day in the school hallway and telling him without any warning. Buffy could still feel the utter panic which had taken her over. She'd burned bright red, made a painful squeaking noise, then went running to grab Faith's arm, dragging her out of the building as fast as she possibly could. And it only got worse from there. Her friends, Faith for the most part, seemed to enjoy embarrassing her and harassing him. She did her best to avoid him, any time she would contact him, via passing notes through a series of friends and a time or two daring to speak with him over the phone, had been only for the purpose of apologizing for her friends and their insane behavior.

He was an outcast, an outsider, yet found himself popular enough. His charming good looks and mysterious persona did wonders there. He never seemed to enjoy it though. He had been, and if she honest with herself he still was, the most attractive man she had ever laid eyes on.

She wasn't shy by nature but something about him brought it out in her. It hadn't made high school very easy in some regards thanks to that, but he'd been pretty much the best part of it all the same.

When he graduated it had been hard to go in there every day. When he'd left town it'd been harder to stick around here.

OoOoO

As Buffy watched the redhead in the window's excitement, all her worries from the ride over here and from the day she'd had slowly faded away to be replaced by her own sharp intake of happiness. Willow was practically bouncing inside the house, Oz was seen behind her shaking his head.

Buffy rubbed her neck then started preparing to go up to the house.

As soon as she had even stepped up outside of the car, she heard the front door flying open and Willow calling her name as she rushed forward in the snow. Buffy barely managed to get the door shut in time before the two girls were locked in a tight embrace. "Hey, Wil."

"It's so good to see you," Willow exclaimed, squeezing her tighter. "Did you make it out okay?"

Buffy rolled her eyes as they separated some. "Oh, sure. Not like you live on Death Road or anything."

Willow laugh. "Wasn't my idea! Believe me! I still get scared every single time we drive out there."

Buffy nodded. "I can imagine." And she certainly could.

She'd always been afraid to divide off from the highway after the bridge crossing the river. It turned into gravel and was unsteady. Rocks fell constantly, was plagued by deer, had no siding to keep you from falling off the huge ledge and down to the river below.

Willow smiled, stepped back to give the blonde a one over, then pulled her close again. "Come on inside, can't have you freezing to death."

OoOoO

The cute Osbournes had cooked a lovely meal and shown Buffy around their place. They all got caught up, though as per usual Oz kept to himself and let them run the show.

Buffy noted he had changed too much, grew up plenty and was a little bit more talkative but she liked him no matter what. Ever since Willow and he had started becoming friends, then of course more, in high school... he'd always been great. He fit into their whacky world somehow.

Willow had both going for her, Buffy had decided. She seemed like both that girl she'd grown up with, was the biggest nerd girl, shy as can be, friendliest person on the planet. But there was also... somewhere in there... something so different. She was more confident, bolder, had really come into her skin. It made her so proud of her friend.

When the girl's began getting into Buffy's life the past several years and then on to what exactly prompted her to come back, Oz quietly left them in private.

Most was already known between the friends but yet so much hadn't come out. All three knew the ever changing hair colored male was more than welcome to stay, he'd end up knowing everything one way or another, but this worked too.

OoOoO

As the desert was being served, they moved into the living room, being rejoined by Oz in the process. The topic now more on future plans, for all of them. Buffy shrugged. "I guess I'm just going to stay out here for awhile, settle things down, figure out what to do next. A lot of things are taken care of, the house, have some money squared away until I get more settled in. I got a job.."

"You did? That's great! Where?"

Buffy shook her head before answering. Two sets of eyes went wide. "Yeah. I know."

Willow started to glow with excitement again. "Did you see him?"

"Yes. He's the one who gave me the job."

"You mean you actually stood in the same space as Angel without running away?"

Buffy laughed. "I was tempted, I will admit. But I'm not fully that little obsessed girl any more it seems." Willow got an evil look flashing in her eyes. "Don't even start. He's still a honey, no question about that. But I got enough going on without worrying over my childhood crush."

"You never know..." Willow said, very sing-song like.

"You're impossible."

"As always!" she grinned.

OoOoO

It was late before Buffy finally got out of there. As she drove away she wished she'd agreed to just stay the night as she faced the road ahead, snow and darkness and all. Thankfully, she made it out alive and in one piece, turned left and headed back towards town.

Everywhere was shut down, by now had been for at least a couple of hours. Buffy yawned as she drove through the heart of the town, waited on the train to pass, then finished her way back.

Walking into the house, Buffy felt drained but somehow lighter after seeing Willow, like some of the pressure had eased up. It was nice, welcomed.

She went to go plug her phone into the charger before getting dressed for bed. Checked her e-mail on the laptop while sitting on the bed then put everything away. Her mind was playing so many images, but tonight it didn't feel overwhelming.

Eventually, she fell asleep.

OoOoO

More snow had decided to fall through the night, Buffy winced at the whiteness of it all that streamed through the window as she woke up. She grumbled, pulled the covers back over her head and remained like that until her snooze alarm came back on. After that, Buffy decided to get up and get the morning started. Buffy locked up the house and started carefully making her way down off the porch, the step, and little walkway until she got to the fresh snow covered yard and driveway. She was still making her way to her car when she glanced across the street, then did a double take.

Angel's car was in their driveway. As was he.

The blonde cursed herself after feeling the air escape all at once, and shook her head. She smiled his way then went to examine the best way to dig herself out all over again.

OoOoO

"You want a ride?"

Buffy turned around, she hadn't even heard him sneak up on her. "Huh? Oh, no, thank you. I'll be fine."

His lips turned up just a tiny bit in one corner. "You sure?"

Buffy looked at the progress she had made so far. Plowing her way out wasn't exactly fun, especially not this early in the morning. "Oh... um... okay. If you don't mind."

"Not at all." He nodded his head for her to follow.

Buffy swallowed, getting into the passenger side of his Plymouth. The first thought flashing in her mind was of how bad she'd wanted to do this when she was younger. This had been his car for as long as she could remember, and had thought about it quite often. "I guess it'll be another busy day," she commented as they pulled out of her neighbor's drive and started down the road.

His eyes turned to her at the sound of her voice, then back to the road ahead. "I'm sure it already has been." His mouth turned into a smirk. "I gave Spike's personal number on the machine," he told her. "He's been bitching at all hours about it."

Buffy's own lips curled into a smile and she nodded. The rest of the trip was made in silence. But as he parked the car, "It doesn't snow like this in California," he said.

Buffy almost jumped as she reached for the door handle. She took a moment then looked back at him. "Not in North Carolina either."

"That where you were?" he asked.

Buffy nodded. "Yep."

He paused for a moment, then, "Why'd you come back?"

Buffy swallowed, then put a smile back on her face. "I found myself in a bad situation and finally got tired of it. I didn't know where else to go, especially at such short notice, so here I am. Home sweet home."

They got out of the car and Angel started shouting across the lot of one of the employees, then Buffy heard her name so turned around. "You get that bad situation taken care of?" he asked.

"I hope so," she responded, heading toward the small building to start her work day.

OoOoO

He didn't know why, but the tone of her voice and that look that flashed across her face before being tucked back away bothered him a great deal. He watched her go up to the office building and slipping inside.

He'd about had a heart attack the other day when she pushed himself out from under that car and found her standing there. Buffy Summers was the last person he had expected to see. Not that he was complaining. She looked good, really good. Hell, better than she had in high school.

...High school where he was too shy to talk to her, plus just never thought he was good enough for the likes of the pretty blonde. He could remember those days well. His friends were as bad as hers, he remembered. Slowly they all seemed to find out he was lusting after the young blonde, probably as all he did when given the chance was stare and oogle her. Then one day one of her friends comes up and spills the beans that the feeling is mutual. He had seen her notice him a number of times, but it still was bit of a shock. He'd stood there blushing, watching the object of his affection turn as red as her best friend's hair, her eyes in pure horror, and pulled Faith away from him and rushed away.

After that, he found himself getting a lot of attention from all of her friends. They'd say hi to him, come up to him and tell him how great their friend was and how she liked him. He had a free period in the gym at the end of the day so he soon found his final period being half spent getting pushed on the blonde by her friends in band who would get out early and come see him.

It kept things pretty interesting.

The poor blonde was constantly horrified by things. She started writing him notes, that her good pals would pass along, apologizing for their behavior. She even called him a few times. But never dared talking to him straight on. And hell, if his friends didn't get worse by hers. They all took it upon themselves to do similar actions. It was quite embarrassing.

The blonde had stuck in Angel's mind after high school, after moving away, starting a new life, and when coming home again. He couldn't seem to shake it. She was always a what if to him, a longing for something. And suddenly, she was back in this little piece of nowhere, same as him.

He'd found that shy outcast wanting to take him back over, but he pushed it away. He forced himself to man up a bit. He gladly gave her the job, not complaining one bit of the idea he'd get to see her day in and out.

Being back in Hemery suddenly wasn't all that bad.

OoOoO

Buffy spent most of the day still being trained, but they did let her handle things later on in the day. She was slowly getting the hang of it, and as far as jobs went... this was hardly the worst thing in the world. Angel had been in close corners to her a lot of the time. He'd had her drive his car out to Casey's to get some snacks and the money to cover it, and let her take it when she went out for lunch.

When her shift was coming to an end, he was unable to take her home though, caught up in what seemed like fifteen different things. He did however have Parker take her.

And she felt more disappointed than she was willing to admit.

OoOoO

Buffy sat up in bed, rubbing her still-tired eyes. She already knew it had snowed again last night, the blinding light coming through cracks of the curtains only confirmed it all the more. She groaned, not wanting to get out of bed. Not that she had to, she had today off.

Sighing, she laid back down with a loud thump to the pillow when her head hit. Being stuck here was worse than getting up and going to work.

Buffy laid, staring at the ceiling for awhile before sitting back up. She knew she wasn't going to be falling back asleep. She rubbed her her eyes, twitched at her nose, rubbed her face before getting out of the warm bed with a loud sigh.

The air she stepped into felt chilly, so once in the hallway she turned the heat up just a bit before heading to the bathroom. She was washing her hands, debating on taking a bath when there was a knock on the front door.

Waving her hands dry, she walked through the house to get to the front door, opening it to find her father. "Hi," she greeted. The outside world was giving her a headache, she winced at the brightness that also greeted her.

"I didn't know if you would be home... or busy today..." he started.

Buffy shook her head, stepping back to let him know he could come in. "I'm off on weekends."

Hank nodded. "I brought you a few things, in case you need them. I should have more when I can get help loading and the weather clears up a bit."

Buffy gave a hint of a smile. "Thank you."

He nodded again. "Is there anything you're in need of, might need to get for you?"

She didn't even think about it before telling him no, that she was fine. Thanked him again.

"Oh, okay," he said. "I'll go get the stuff out of the car and bring it in."

"Okay."

Buffy walked over to the sofa to take a seat and after two trips back and forth, he had brought in various items and laid them on the floor of the living room, telling her she could use or do whatever with them. Again she thanked him.

"How has work been going?"

"It's been good. Still getting used to it."

"What all are you doing there?"

Buffy shrugged a little. "Answering phones, making appointments mostly. Office-type work."

"That's good," he said. "How have things been otherwise? You okay here?"

"Yep."

"Did you get cable set up or internet or anything like that?"

"Yeah, I have internet going."

He stood for a few long moments. "Okay, well I just came by to drop this stuff off for you. I have a part in the garage I'm going to grab and then probably head back."

Buffy stood slowly. "Okay."

OoOoO

Buffy let out the breath she'd been holding the whole time he'd been there as she watched his car pull out of the drive and head down the road. She leaned her head against the door she'd been spying out of for an extra breath before turning to look at what all he had brought her.

There hadn't been too much so it didn't take long before she had it squared away. After that, she made something quick to eat then pulled out her laptop and brought it over the couch with her.

She knew she wasn't going to be heading out with the roads like this if she could help it, but she looked up some local places in the next three counties she might want to go to when she had the time. Mostly a lot of flea markets, thinking about adding some furniture to the place... and whatever else caught her eye. She hadn't really brought any when she came back and the house was sparsely decorated. Buffy also looked at different online places to see if there were anything a) she would like at retailers and/or b) would maybe want to just order online and have shipped out.

After that, she really didn't know what else to do with her time.

With a stretch and yawn, she washed the small pile of dishes then returned to the couch. She decided to just go browse around on Netflix and find something to watch for awhile.

OoOoO

The day was just going by far too slowly. Checking online at various e-mails and social networking-type sites, Buffy felt overwhelmingly bored. She rubbed her eyes before responding to a text she'd gotten from Willow.

Just seconds after it sent, a noise was made from the computer and she looked up and clicked on the correct tab to see what it was, and felt cold as she found out what it'd been from. Swallowing, she read over the name who had both tried to add her on the site as a friend, and had sent her a message. She'd blocked everyone tied to him already, but that didn't mean they couldn't make up new names or harass her all the same.

Not bothering to read the message from his mother, or whoever using her name, she went through the steps to deactivate the account.

Standing, she tried to shake off the feelings rushing through her, get her mind off of everything.

OoOoO

As she laid in bed later in the night, Buffy wondered how smart of an idea it'd been to come here. Not for the first time, and she knew not for the last. There was it could be easy enough to track her down, she hated the area, she was uncomfortable with her family... she had no idea what she was doing.

She fell into a restless sleep trying to come up with a plan.

OoOoO

Sunday hadn't gone much better, so she was never more happy to see a Monday come than she was this morning.

"Hi."

Buffy turned, finishing hanging her coat up. "Hi. Good morning," she replied.

"How'd the weekend go?" Angel asked, looking back and forth between her and a pile of stapled paperwork in his hands.

She sighed. "It was long."

He chuckled a little. "Tell me about it."

OoOoO

The day went by fast. Thankfully after how dragging the weekend had gone. It'd been busy, vehicles coming out, tows seemingly going out as soon as they got back in. A lot of strands and wrecks were happening. Angel came through the door, cracking his neck several times. "That's it," he declared into the small office. "I'm taking a break."

Buffy smiled at the grumbling in his voice.

He continued to pop bones and stretch. He walked over to the bathroom and seemingly cleaned up a bit. When he came back out, he looked through one of the small windows. "I'm starving, I'm going across the street to get something to eat." He looked back at Buffy. "You want to come?"

Buffy felt a wave go through her entire body. She swallowed. "I'm not off yet."

He looked over at the clock. "You have like fifteen more minutes. I'm hardly going to dock you for it. You wanna come?" She took a moment before finally nodding, standing up to join him. As they walked across the street, her eyebrow raised as she took him in. He caught her, making her blush but he only laughed. "Good thing about small towns? No one cares that the grease monkey comes in looking like exactly that," he said with a smile.

Buffy chuckled, shaking her head.

An older African-American woman was standing behind the main desk when they came in. She raised her eyebrow. "Nice to see you classing up the place, Angelus."

He laughed with her. "I was just saying that," he replied, laughing harder.

She shook her head. "She with you?" she asked with a nod at Buffy.

"Yeah."

"Alright," she said, coming from around the desk, "Let's find you two a seat then."

OoOoO

"I still can't get over how much this place has changed."

Angel looked up for his menu. "I know what you mean. A lot of places here are like that, though. So much the same, so much different."

"Cannot believe I am back here," she muttered.

He looked back down at the menu. "Again, know what you mean."

OoOoO

As their orders were placed on the table, Buffy shook her head a little, fighting a blush that kept wanting to come out and play. She had a hard time wrapping her head around being here with him. "The food's not the same," he said, taking a bite. "But it's not bad either."

She nodded. "I've only been here twice since coming back to town."

"Did you come back to stay or..."

She shrugged. "Not sure. Some days I think I could hang out for awhile, was even thinking about going out to buy some furniture for the house... other times I feel like I should just get out now."

"Where would go?"

"That I don't know. Anywhere."

They were both enjoying a piece of pie when he looked at her. "What kind of furniture were you needing?"

"Hmm? Oh. I don't know. I didn't bring any with me and my dad doesn't have much at the house. I was thinking about a desk, some shelves, maybe a table and chairs for the dining room." Buffy shrugged. "Just anything I guess."

"Why didn't you get yours moved?"

"Left in a bit of a hurry."

"Because of that problem?"

She smiled at his tone. "Yeah."

"You have a bed?"

Buffy felt her heart's speed pick up a bit and inwardly cursed herself. "Yeah, I do."

"I have some stuff in storage if you want any of it. I already loaned out the bed I had so I couldn't have helped on that."

"What? Oh. No, I couldn't... I'm gonna go check out some places when the roads clear up a bit."

He finished his last bite of the apple pie. "Seriously. I have two storage sheds full and a garage. It's all just sitting there. You should at least come by and see if there's anything you like. You can have it, and I'll even bring it out to you."

"That's very sweet of you, Angel. But I really couldn't." His head popped up at the name. This time, she couldn't hide the blush that overtook her face. "Liam. That's very sweet of you, Liam."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, my God," she growled, burying her face in her hands. "I, we all... we sort of nicknamed you Angel back in high school."

"I'd been told," he said. "I just didn't know it was still used."

She turned even brighter. "Yeah... well..." He couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out. Buffy started fanning her face, refusing to look at him. "Anyway!"

He laughed harder. "You have time now?"

"I'm not taking your furniture."

"Yeah, you are. Come on. One piece. A small one. Come on."

She rolled her eyes.

OoOoO

Buffy got up and went to the door at the sound of cars pulling in. After going with Angel to look at what furniture he had in storage, she had come back home to wait for him to bring what he'd conned her into taking by. But as she stepped outside, finding him, Parker and Spike out there, she also saw he'd obviously added quite a number of things to the pile.

She sighed at he stepped closer. "What is all this?"

He smiled. "You mind?" he asked with a nod at the door. Buffy shook her head and watched as he set the door open then yelled to the guys to start bringing stuff in, telling her just to tell them where to put things.

Shaking her head, she stood back out of the way and waited.

Buffy found the house quickly filled with a variety of items, more than she needed at that. He'd brought chairs, end tables, trays, a dining room table set, book cases, a desk and chair for it, large trunk, ect. He'd brought hanging shelves, lamps, glassware and sets of plates and bowls, decor pieces, paintings, and more.

After the guys were done putting everything up and in place, she shot him a look when he was looking her way. He shrugged and smiled. "Anything else you can think of you might need?"

Buffy shook her head. "I think I now have more than enough at the moment, thank you." He laughed. "You know I might not be staying," she said after a few more moments.

"Well, you're free to take what you want if you do," he said. "Anything else... I'll just come back by and get and find what to do with it next."

OoOoO

Parker and Spike headed off while Angel made the last few touches. That made her all too aware that he was in her house, around her things. Putting his hammer away and grabbing up his tools, Angel came over to her. "Thank you," she told him.

"Not a problem. If there is anything else, just let me know alright?"

She rolled her eyes. "Sure."

He continued walking past her, heading towards the door. "Alright, well... I guess I will see you tomorrow."

Buffy nodded when he turned around, just outside the door on the steps. "I will be there."

"Alright."

"Have a goodnight."

"You too," he said before getting the door to close. A few moments later, she heard his car start up, saw headlights flash on, and he pulled out and drove off.

Buffy felt like she was back in high school as she picked up her cell phone to call Willow and tell her what had happened.

"Well," the redhead said after awhile. "You know he liked you in high school too... so maybe..."

Buffy felt an embarrassing smile cross her face at that. His friend's had been about as bad as hers back then. Maybe even worse in some cases, after all her friends never de-pantsed her in the hallway in front of him before. But it'd been Spike actually who'd been the first of a few who had told her that crazy bit of information. School had been let out but she waited a few extra minutes before heading out to walk home before taking up driving or being of age to as well. She'd hang out with other friend's who were lingering about waiting for their parents, having an after school activity or whatever as she waited for the buses to get out of the way and traffic to calm a bit from the school before crossing the highway. So, she'd been there, helping a friend hang pictures up in her locker when the platinum blonde had came down their hallway and watched them for a bit before coming over and striking up a conversation. It was during such that he slipped in that bit of information.

And from there, it'd happened a few other times.

Buffy shook her head. "So a few people said," she said into the phone.

"And he even did," Willow pointed out.

"Oh, he did not."

"He did. Twice!" Buffy knew what she was referring to and blushed.

The first being when Gwen Raiden had moved to town. She'd sort of become friends with their group, but then had set her sights on one Liam Angelus. She hadn't known Buffy's massive crush was on him so you couldn't fault her in that way. But... the sinfully beautiful girl had decided she liked Angel and had started making moves on him, even flat out asking him out once. His response had been basically telling her thanks for the interest, but he liked someone else from her class.

Buffy's friends had had a field day with that one.

The second thing being that one year, at the last day of school, their core group of friends all had plans to go to one of their houses for the following week. Bored, they were roaming around the school after it let out and a few of said friends had the brilliant idea to go through Angel's locker from that year... bringing her a huge pile of stuff he'd left behind. They'd packed it all up with them and when they got the girls' house, started going through it.

The group of girls had later called him, a few at each phone that was scattered through the house to listen and butt in, asking him about some letters they'd "stumbled" upon. Some had been from another girl who apparently had the hots for him but he'd brushed off and they got more information on that, then others that referred to a girl he liked without ever saying a name but there were certainly some similarities in there to their little Buffy.

"Oh, we all just took what we wanted from all of that," Buffy said, shaking her head out of old memories.

"You're just denying," Willow countered with a laugh. "And the way he's behaving now, I wouldn't put it past him that he still has some of those same feelings. Just as you do towards him."

OoOoO

Back at the shop, he was finishing up a few papers and closing up. Spike was roaming around too, but he was doing his best to ignore that. Spike came up to the building as its doors were being locked. He was silent, just staring, is face looking ridiculous. "Yes, Spike?"

"Want to tell me what all this is about, mate?"

"All of what?"

"Giving Buffy Summers a job here, bringing her into work before, taking her out to eat, giving her all this stuff tonight..."

"It's nothing," he said, starting to walk away from the building and over to his car.

"Sure," Spike drawled.

"What do you even care?"

Spike shrugged. "Just playing the part of the annoying best friend, that's all."

"Yeah. Sure."

"Something had to happen to her."

He had started getting into the car but popped his head back up over the top. "Why do you say that?"

Spike shrugged, pulling out his cigarette pack from his jacket. "Girl like that isn't going to come back here unless it did," Spike said.

"We ended up back here, too, Spike."

"Yeah. And we each had our reasons for that, now didn't we?"

OoOoO

With a sigh, he stepped into the shower. Today had felt long. This weather was doing a number on him. He didn't mind helping Buffy out though. He'd liked talking to her, being around her. It made him wish he hadn't been such a shy idiot back in high school, though at times he felt as if he still was when he was around her. He had to do a lot of just blurt things out and not think beforehand with her, otherwise he'd probably get nowhere.

She'd come out to the storage units and after a lot of pestering, she'd picked a few things out. He'd tried to get her to take more but she'd refused, not that he let that stop him. After she left, he got things started, picking out a few things that were similar and thinking back to anything she hadn't mentioned having or had even said she didn't. Some with the addition of not needing them, but he figured it wouldn't hurt. So he'd called in some help with loading and also went out to the house to get a few more things and brought them over.

Her house didn't feel like her at all. She seemed all the more uncomfortable there than ever, but he hoped that maybe with all of this and in time that could change a bit. It had, for the most part, for him. He'd been so out of place when coming back to Hemery as well, but now it was home enough.

When he finished and got ready for bed, his mind went to what Spike had said, as well as the little that could follow along with it. He just couldn't seem to shake the feeling that something was wrong there. And it did make some sense. Coming back here for anyone was one thing, but for the one's so eager and able to get out of here and make a life... you just knew it had to be something.

Right?

He sighed, tossing in bed, punching his pillow until it was a little more comfortable.

OoOoO

Six hundred miles away, another man fumed, throwing things around an already trashed house. "Bitch!" he yelled into the otherwise silent place.

He'd been locked up in a psych ward, then had been thrown in jail, and upon release, he was not at all happy. And he couldn't express how furious he was at her to her because she was nowhere to be found.

And that just pissed him off all the more.

OoOoO

Buffy woke up shaking. Her nightmare had been too real. Hell, it had been real... only it wasn't happening right now, it was just a memory. She let out a breath, running a shaky hand through her tangled hair.

It was still dark outside but she didn't know how well sleep would come to her again. Or if she even wanted it to.

She'd been lucky. Nothing horrifically bad had ever happened to her, but enough had. And she got out of there before anything else could, before anything worse could actually come to be.

For that, she was beyond grateful. She just hoped that was really the end of it all.


	3. Chapter 3

The weather was depressing, there was no way around it. The awful time between winter and spring had come to stay it seemed. The white sheets of snow had gone and left everything bitterly cold and very gray. Buffy was pretty much over it. She was ready for the warmer weather to return, to see some sunshine! Maybe then the bad feeling that had been looming over her would go away, too.

One could hope, right?

Not everything was so bad in her life right now though to be completely honest. She and Willow got together usually at some point or another on the weekends to go do something ...which she always looked forward to, her dad would come by here and there and that was becoming at least a tiny bit less awkward with each time they spoke, she'd been making friends somewhat with neighbors and of course the boys at the shop. Buffy was still enjoying work... and there was, of course, Angel.

The two of them had continued getting closer, though it was a lot more open on his side of things than hers. He had told her more stories about life out in California, how things had been since he'd returned, he had told his story of why he came back and everything while she played her cards a lot more close to the vest. Sure, she would tell him about some things she had loved doing out on the East coast, about the work she had done out there, some things about her friends and all but never anything too personal. She had a way of steering away from giving in too much about anything. He'd commented a few times but never pushed and allowed her to be vague and to change the subject.

Another thing the two of them were both good at avoiding though was anything to do with their own past when it came to high school. Now, they would talk about some events that had happened there, teachers, old student peers and all but they both steered away from bringing up what all had been their connection back then. It had been thrown out here and there by accident or by one of their lovely friends but they'd mostly just blush, say something quick and change the subject to something else.

They had their routines, too. Donuts in the morning, inside jokes through the day, having lunch across the street when they weren't too busy. Somewhere along the lines they'd also started a 'weekend catch up' with one another for Saturday nights or Sunday mornings depending on when they had some time to spare. It made those two days not seem so long after that.

Which also meant Buffy knew she was just getting into more trouble when it came to him.

OoOoO

Liam sighed, rubbing his arm as he made his way into the office. His eyes directly went to Buffy's desk and he almost growled when he noticed it empty. "Missed her by about a minute," he heard behind him. This time, he did growl. Spike chuckled behind him. "Arm still bothering you?"

Liam nodded. He'd got it all twisted wrong over the weekend and so far not much was helping. "Think I'll make it through the next few days," he half-muttered. He went to his own desk and quickly did a few things before saying he was going across the street.

It took about all he had not to run into the small diner. The weekend had seemed extremely long, then before the shop even opened he had gotten a call from an old family friend asking for help so he'd been two towns over all morning. Add in his irritation with his arm, everything taking far longer than it needed to, and a dead phone to boot... he was simply not a happy camper today.

Opening the door, Liam stepped in and was greeted at the door. A finger was pointed and he followed it to spot Buffy and instantly he felt most of the tension fade away. With another sigh, he headed to the bathroom's first to wash up a little before coming back out to join her at the small table. "Hi!" she greeted cheerfully. He smiled at her, then the waitress who had brought him over a menu. "You look really unhappy," Buffy said as the other woman walked away, a little chuckle in her voice.

"I'm havin' a day," he told her, only making her laugh harder. The two of them fell into easy conversation and ate their meal. Buffy brought up the news of him deciding to take a three-day weekend off at the end of the week. Liam couldn't even remember the last time he'd not came in to work so needless to say, he was needing some time off.

"Any big plans?" she asked, eating the last bite of her slice of chocolate silk pie.

He shook his head. "Not really, just looking forward to doing nothing I guess. What about you? You got anything planned yet?"

"Nope. Willow's going to be off at a conference most of the week and through the weekend. And Oz is going with her I think. So... I don't know what all I'll be doing yet."

"Wanna hang out with me?" he blurted a few moments after as they were getting ready to go back to the shop.

Buffy had a flash of a blush and shock cross her face. "This weekend?"

"Yeah," he said with a shrug. "I could cook dinner."

She took in a few very slow breaths. "Okay."

"Good," Liam said and smiled.

OoOoO

The rest of the week seemed to both drag on and fly by quickly. It just depended on the moment. But as Friday morning came, Liam groaned loudly, waking up at his usual time out of habit. He tried to lay back down a few times before just giving up on that idea.

His morning was spent with a quick breakfast, workout and a shower followed by him trying to just relax with some tv. Around noon, he headed into town.

"You do know what 'taking time off' means, right?" Buffy asked him without even turning around as he walked inside the small building.

He chuckled. "I'm not here to work," he promised.

"Not even to check up on things?" she asked, turning around.

He smirked. "It's not my fault if I want to make sure the place is still standing."

"What, you think Spike there could run you out of business in a matter of hours?"

"I wouldn't put it past him," he half-muttered, looking around for the blonde in question.

Buffy chuckled, watching him. "He's been doing just fine," she assured him.

"Uh huh," he muttered. "You ready?" he asked, his attention turning back to her. She nodded and followed him out. He nodded over Spike's way as they walked past and on to the sidewalk to see if it was clear to cross. "You still coming over tomorrow night?" he asked her, watching a few cars go down the road.

"If you want me to," she said, a little quietly.

He turned to look at her. "I very much do," he replied before they headed over to the diner.

After catching Buffy up on his oh-so-exciting morning, she asked what else he had planed for the day ahead. He shrugged then mentioned maybe working on a few projects, cleaning up, or who knew. She laughed. "You have your first day off in what... forever and these are your big plans?"

He blushed a little. He didn't know how to relax sometimes, he knew that. But there was another reason for the blush, one that included her.

"What do you do when you're not at work, like afterward when you go home?"

He shrugged. "Pretty much this. Workout or run, shower, fix things around the house... uhh, read..."

"Exactly. So, as you have a whole weekend to yourself, don't you think you should be doing something a little bit more... exciting?"

"I'm supposed to be relaxing." This made her burst into laughter. More so at the expression he then gave her. "I don't know what to do with time to myself," he said after a moment.

She laughed harder before seeming to calm down. "I can see that. We need to work on you."

After lunch, they headed back across the street and she got back to work. Liam talked with Spike for a few minutes before going back around town to run a few errands... including heading to the grocery store to buy supplies for tomorrow night. There, he also grabbed up a few dvd's to watch and a six-pack.

And even after taking care of things around town then heading home, it was still early in the afternoon, which made him a little annoyed.

He put the groceries and supplies away, made a few phone calls, paid some bills early, then put in one of the movies before taking a seat at one of his computers. With a sigh, he took up on one of Buffy's suggestions and began browsing around to see if there were any events going on this weekend nearby that he might go check out.

OoOoO

When Buffy pulled into her driveway after work, she couldn't help but smile. Getting out of the car, she gave a little wave, before walking towards the gorgeous man who was waiting on her front steps. "Hello again," she greeted once closer.

"Hey," he replied, a little sheepishly. He pulled out one of the beer bottles from the pack, then another and handed it to her.

She raised an eyebrow before taking it. "Why do I feel like something very bad is about to happen?" she asked, a slight laughter in her tone.

"I'm here to bribe you."

This made her almost snort. "Oh, no."

He smirked then was silent for a few moments. She took a seat beside him and they both opened their bottles. She made a face as she took a drink. She'd never been one much for this stuff.

He noticed out of the corner of his eye and let out a chuckle of his own. "I want to spend tomorrow with you," he finally said. She went to say something, after getting herself together after that bomb, but he continued. "I mean, the whole day," he told her, reading her mind, knowing they already had their evening plans. Angel took another long drink for his bottle. "Anything you want to do."

"Couldn't find anything you were interested in?" she finally replied, her emotions everywhere.

He shook his head softly. "There's a few things. I guess. But... I just would rather spend time with you. And don't care really what it is we're doing."

Buffy felt herself blushing and tried to cover it up by taking another drink for her own bottle. Only to nearly choke on it. Putting the glass down, she looked at him, watching him finish his own and stare off around them. "Okay," she nervously agreed.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Angel turned back to look at her, giving her a very slow smile. They held each other's gaze before she broke it, standing up. Digging for her keys, she walked towards the front door. "You want to come in here for a bit?"

Angel nodded. He gathered up his things and followed her inside. They hung their jackets up in the corner. Buffy excused herself to go use the bathroom while he put the remainder of the alcohol up in her fridge for the time being. He looked around the house he'd gotten to know a bit lately before going back into the living room and taking a seat. A few moments later, Buffy came out, got herself a cup of ice water instead and came to join him.

She had no idea what was going on, and less of an idea of how she felt about it all.

OoOoO

Buffy found herself waking up earlier than she intended but knew that there was no way she would be able to fall back asleep so just pulled herself out of bed and started preparing for the day ahead of her. She couldn't hide the fact that her heart id a little pitter-patter at the thought of what the day held, knowing she would be spending the majority of it with Angel. She wasn't sure what all he was thinking with all of this but she wasn't going to put too much behind it and get herself all worked up over nothing. Instead, she planned to just go with it and have a good time.

Buffy showered and got ready, tidied up the house a little then went to go make a quick breakfast. Once she was done, she went to go get her phone off the charger to make a few calls and smiled when she saw a text for him waiting for her.

It wasn't too long before she heard the doorbell ring and she saw him standing on the other side of her front door. As she had gotten quite used to always seeing him dressed for work the past few days had been bit of a treat but this was a whole new level. She had to remind herself not to start drooling as she looked him over.

With a shake of the head, Buffy told him to go ahead and take a seat while she went to go grab up her laptop to show him some online flyers for some things they had discussed late the previous evening before going to bed. It didn't take much effort to agree on something to do and soon she was locking up the house and following him out to his car.

Driving through town they made small talk but by the time they were halfway towards the next town they had found themselves engrossed in sharing stories of various things, laughing and carrying on.

OoOoO

The pair spent their morning and early afternoon a few towns from Hemery. Together, most of the time had been spent at an indoor fair event the town was having, and with the sun somewhat out they even opened a few booths and activities outside. The hours seemed to fly by pretty quickly... they ran into a number of people they knew so had time to talk with them, there were endless amounts of food carts inside, market booths, games to play, contests going on, an art show, small concert and more.

Liam found himself practically unable to unglue himself from Buffy while there. He dragged her around from one spot to another, getting engrossed with everything, very glad that he came... not to mention that she tagged along, too. His hands seemed to have a mind of their own, reaching out to her whenever possible... grabbing her hand to lead her off to somewhere new, flattening his palm across her lower back when standing near her, anything.

Hell, once during the day he even wrapped his arms around her from behind and picked her up and swung her around in a bout of playfulness the two were sharing.

When they finally decided to head back towards home, Liam also found himself asking Buffy to come back to his place already. The plan had been set for him to take her home while he went back to his place and started cooking the meal... but he found himself not even wanting to part from her for a few hours right now.

Buffy laughed a little. "Aren't you needing a break from me?"

He shook his head. "Not at all.'

"I'm not dressed for the evening."

He shrugged. "You look just fine to me. C'mon."

OoOoO

After showing her where she could freshen up, Liam put their jackets up then headed to the kitchen and started washing up himself before getting together what he needed for dinner. When Buffy walked him, he nodded to a bar stool by the counter for her. "Just so you know," she told him as she slid into the seat, "I have zero cooking skills to speak of in case you were hoping I'd be helping out."

He chuckled at that and her expression as she said it before shaking his head. "Nope, you're just here for company, to keep me entertained."

"Uh huh," she replied, her voice amused. She watched him move around for a few minutes before asking, "So, what exactly are you making tonight anyhow?"

"Gasconade chicken with Linguine Alfredo."

Buffy found herself fascinated with watching him as he cooked their massive meal, moving about his giant kitchen with ease, the savory scents filling up the large house. While he cooked, Buffy insisted on setting the table, wanting to at least help out in some way or another. He showed her the way around in there and she went to work on getting the table prepared.

"Do you have any candles?" she asked, looking over the table.

He looked up from the food and the look in his eyes made her start to blush for some reason. He let out a slow smile though. "This is starting to feel like a date," he said after a moment.

This only made her blush harder, wishing she'd kept her mouth shut on the picture that'd popped into her head a moment ago. "Sorry," she squeaked out, "I don't know what I was thinking..."

She heard him chuckle, turning away to go walk over to a set of drawers. A few moments later he was walking over to her, two long white candles in his hands. Buffy sucked in a breath as he stood in front of her, then nearly fainted as his head dipped down slowly, his lips pressing against hers.

Her heart was beating so loud it nearly hurt her ears as he pulled away, went around her to a small table just outside of the room and opened the drawer to pull out a long lighter. After that he walked to a china cabinet and pulled out some candle holders then assembled them and put the two on the table before lighting them.

OoOoO

"Here, you want to help with the salad?" Angel asked after she mentioned feeling useless once again. He smiled watching her face for a moment. "It's a bagged one, just pour and mix," he added, making her laugh. He again helped her find the bowls and everything and then told her she could grab it out of the fridge, adding to grab whichever dressing she wanted.

Buffy pulled out the large salad mix and looked over the choices before grabbing Italian up. She poured everything into a large bowl then got the smaller salad bowls out from the cabinets and made them each a dish, sneaking a few bites of hers as she went to set it down. Next she got their drinks ready and set them out and next thing she new he was saying the food was done, just needed time to cool.

Buffy could feel her stomach doing a happy dance as he started bringing their dishes to the table. They had the salad with dressing and warmed up bread with butter, sides of corn on the cob with butter and twice baked potatoes with sour cream and cheddar cheese on top. he'd made the Linguine Alfredo pasta as well as their main dish of Gasconade Chicken. Each of them had two chicken breasts that were topped with oven roasted peppers, maple wood bacon strips and mozzarella cheese.

She was sure she'd gained at least fifteen pounds from this meal but didn't care a bit, it would be well worth it.

OoOoO

Buffy found herself unable to compliment him enough on the meal. She hadn't had any homemade meals after she left home and only a handful of times over at Willow and Oz's but this blew them right out of the water without question. She was thankful that despite the mind blowing event of being kissed by the gorgeous man across from her, the two of them had been at ease through it all, talking about a variety of topics, one after another, conversation flowing so easily between them.

'This is so funny," she said, that thought in mind.

"What's that?"

Her hair shook a little. "How easy this feels, just sitting around with you... In high school I felt the need to run away if I even spotted you anywhere near me." She blushed with the words, too.

He slightly did as well. "Well, if it makes you feel any better... I was pretty much the same way," he admitted. "Which is rather sad to think about now, look at us here... lot of time wasted."

Buffy took a small drink from her glass. This was dangerous territory she was treading into and she knew it. Hell, these days anything with him felt that way. "Yes, well... I was too shy back then to be anywhere near you, let alone talk to you back then. Crushing a bit too hard I guess," she rushed out before grabbing another drink quickly.

He gave her that smouldering look again, making her thankful she was sitting down. Angel finished his glass then leaned forward, refilling it. "In my head," he said, "The two of had countless discussions," he told her, "Among many other things..." This only made her face burn again. "I don't know why I couldn't just act upon what I wanted, just go up and say something to you, hell ask you out tor something. Hey, if I could have done that who knows what else was floating around in the mind of a teenage boy would have happened,' he said with a chuckle.

More blushing. "Well, why didn't you?"

He shrugged. "I was terrified of you."

She raised an eyebrow. "Terrified of me?" He nodded. "Yes, because I am and was just so scary."

"You were to me," he told her. "Hell, you still are," he added after a pause.

"You're talking to me now," Buffy pointed out.

"Doesn't mean you still don't make me nervous, make me feel like I'm that shy sixteen year old all over again."

"I believe I know that feeling all too well," she agreed.

OoOoO

For dessert, they had some blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream. Afterward, the pair began to clean up after themselves, the talk of the past continue, dip a toe into the pool skirting about it but more than they'd dug into with one another so far. It was kept pretty light, but a lot being said even with that.

Taking less time than expected, the dishes were all washed, dried and put away, what little food that was left was covered and taken to the fridge, the table wiped down, and a new bottle of wine was opened during the clean up. Liam leaned against the back of his chair at the table, taking a sip for his glass, just enjoying the moment. He knew he should probably be getting ready to take Buffy home finally, but it was the last thing in the world he wanted to do.

"What?" Buffy asked after noticing him staring at her.

"I'm glad you came out tonight," he said after a moment.

She smiled brightly. 'Me too. I fully enjoyed it. Thanks for inviting me along today."

Another drink, this one a little longer. "We should do it again sometime..."

She raised an eyebrow playfully. "You're giving that 'date vibe' again."

He nodded. "That was kind of my intention," he told her. "Although..."

She waited a pause. "Although?" she pressed.

"I'm not quite done with this one yet."

"No?"

"No," he breathed out.

Buffy felt like that she was having an out of body experience, and not only that but as if everything was moving in slow motion and the everything else in the world fell away but the two of them. She had a sharp intake of air as she watched him slowly cut across the room, his arms reaching out for her. Buffy felt his fingertips touch her sides, slowly slipping under the very edge of her top, going around to grazing her back and pulling her closer to him. She nearly stumbled as she went, his arms making a slightly firmer grip around her as she closed in on his chest. Her head was tilted upward, eyes hooded then closing as he bent down to take her lips with his own.

Buffy moaned softly at the contact, her own arms reaching for him, sliding up his chest, over his shoulders, and wrapping around his neck. He gave a slight tug and she leaned in closer, stepping on her tip-toes and deepening the kiss.

Feeling like she was in a near daze, her lips danced against his, her body feeling like it was catching on a slow fire. His tongue soon began seeking entrance past her lips which she wasted no time in granting, again letting out a moan at the new move, lost in how he was making her feel.

Buffy felt one hand press firmly against her, his palm coming on contact with her skin, cupping his hand around her side while the other slipped from under her shirt, over the top of the back of her jeans, grabbing her bottom and lifting her up. He lifted her with such ease, her legs wrapping around him. She barely even felt them moving but within seconds her backside felt the smooth, cool face of the refrigerator.

Buffy could feel the hardness in his pants pressing against her, his manhood throbbing, jerking. How he had positioned them had been just perfect too, every time there was a 'flick' from him, it seemed like it hit her clitoris in just the right way, making her twitch and shiver.

Needing to feel him, Buffy moved her arms around him until she could slip them under the shirt he wore, letting flesh meet flesh. He was so warm and smooth under her, it only made her crave more. Buffy let out a partial groan as his lips finally left hers as her nails scrapped against his skin, soon a slow pant falling from her lips as his trailed down her chin, her neck, sucking and nibbling at her exposed flesh. She closed her eyes, letting her head fall back against the large appliance behind her.

When it stopped, another groan fell from her lips. She slowly opened her eyes back up, tilting her head to look at him.

Angel looked as flushed as she felt, his eyes dark with need, merely an inch from her face. "I want you," he told her, his voice a grave rumble. "I want you in my bed tonight. I've wanted that for a very, very long time."

She felt a rush of excitement crash through her. She'd spent a huge chunk of her life wishing for this very thing to happen, daydreaming about what it'd be like to even utter a word to this guy on through what it'd would be like to be in his arms, his lips on hers, and how much further that could go. She let out a few big breaths then tried to muster up as much confidence as she could in a smile. "I think the bed might be too far away," she told him breathlessly. At that, he could only smirk.

As her last article of clothing came off and was dropped to the floor, Buffy found herself feeling suddenly quite self conscious. Her eyes lowered, scanning the two of them over. Angel had his shirt off as well as his shoes, she was entirely undressed and once more wrapped around him. They'd moved from the refrigerator to a wall column of the kitchen. She had never had much of an issue with her looks, though never overly proud of them either... and when it came to the person getting the view of her it only added to the fact. He was so gorgeous, she was sure he'd make even a super model feel out of sorts next to him. But then there was the past couple of years of hell she'd spent too much time dealing with. Everything she ran away from had taken its toll on her.

When her arms came up to try and hide her nearly exposed upper body, Angel stopped everything he was doing, reached a hand up to brush her hair out of her face, tuck it behind her ear, then take her chin in his fingertips to tip her face to meet his gaze. "Hey," he whispered, his voice surprisingly tender, "Where'd you go?"

Now she felt even more embarrassed. Shaking her head, she shot him a smile, hoping to shake all of those thoughts out of her head too. "Nowhere," she told him, flashing another smile.

His eyes held hers and his head tilted slightly. He stared at her long and hard for a moment before pushing off of the wall and carrying her over to the dining room table where he sat her down on the very edge of one of the corners.

Buffy felt goosebumps raised up on her skin as he stood between her legs, pulling back slightly, his eyes drinking her small form in. He gently removed her arms from covering her chest and laid them at her sides.

"You are absolute perfection," he told her, his voice still so soft. "Whatever is in your head trying to tell you any different than that, it doesn't belong in there."Buffy gave him a real, though small, smile at that. He held her gaze before coming back closer to her, bending to capture her lips once more, his hands cupping her face before moving to tangle up in her blonde locks.

"Stay with me," he told her when he broke away. Angel leaned her slightly back and she used her arms to support her weight. His eyes drank her in again before his hands began moving down her slender body. His fingertips danced from her hair, down her neck, tickling her throat. They flowed like a slow fountain skimming her shoulders, down her chest, then cupping her breasts in his palms. She couldn't help but sigh at the contact, feeling the pulse between her legs increase.

His thumbs brushed over her nipples, his body leaning over her so he could suckle at her neck. Buffy's head fell backwards, eyes closing. He toyed with her with light twisting, pulling and pinching of her erect peeks, exploring her.

His large hands lowered to her stomach, her sides, gently lowering her more towards the table. As soon as she her top half was laying flat on the smooth wooden table, she felt his hands on her hips. She opened her eyes, watching him kiss each breast, her stomach. He took a step backwards, his palms sliding over her thighs, sliding up towards her wet slit.

Buffy's hips jerked in anticipation on his touch, which made him give another smirk her way. But as soon as it came, it faded. Angel's dark eyes locked in on hers, watching her as the first contact of his fingers meeting her silk was made. She already knew she was practically dripping down there and his fingers moved like a knife in warm butter. His fingernail scratched her most sensitive spot and she jerked again, a moan falling out from her lips.

Lowering back down her slit, his two fingers slide into her core, pumping slowly. She was entranced in watching him, feeling what he was doing to her.

His eyes remained on her, watching her watching him as his fingers danced in and out of her. There was a feeling in the air around him that made her whole body feel like it was being set on fire. His eyes were dark and wanting, his body aching to be closer to her.

When his fingers left her, she cried out. His palms ran along the inner side of her thighs and his eyes finally dropped from her face to watch his hands move against her. Spreading her legs slightly more, he moved himself backwards some then began to dip his head between her legs. Buffy sucked in her breath as she watched him, her fingers scratching at the smooth wood underneath her.

"Jesus," she moaned as she felt his mouth on her. His breath was cool, blowing on her before he began to dive into his first taste.

Buffy couldn't keep her hands still. She dug into the table, tangled her fingers in her hair, teased her breasts, grabbed handfuls of Angel's dark locks, massaged and clawed at his neck and shoulders. Her breathing was heavy, vision cloudy, her body about to burst. His hands were on her hips, doing their best to hold her in place, her legs now swooped over him shoulders, her feet locked together against his upper back.

Her body had already erupted underneath him once, and honestly hadn't recovered from that alone. But he didn't give an inch about it. Instead, he continued to lap at her like he was a man dying of thirst.

Throwing her hands back to his head, Buffy grabbed his hair, pulling him towards the spot she needed him most. She swore she could feel him give a smirk against her right before his lips circled around her aching pearl. All thoughts exited her head within seconds, her legs jerking uncontrollably, screams of ecstasy filling the room.

Hoisting her up into his arms, Angel kissed her. She could taste herself on his lips, tongue. Making sure she was secure with sitting up, his hands left her and she could feel them fluttering with his belt and pants. Her own hands urgently joined his, helping free him of his own clothing, leaving him as bare as her.

Buffy nibbled on his bottom lip, her hands rubbing his pulsating cock which stood proud and ready for her. She heard Angel groan, his body moving with her. "Angel," she breathed out when they parted. She didn't know how much longer she could wait for him to take her, her body was feeling painfully empty.

He kissed her again quickly, lifting her up then setting her feet down to the ground. His hands quickly roamed over her body, then grabbed her around the waist and turned her around. Buffy bent over the side of the table, hurrying out a breath when she felt him move behind her.

Buffy felt his fingers for a moment, touching her briefly before she felt the head of his cock at her entrance. Buffy moaned, craving him inside of her.

When he finally began to enter her, Buffy let out a strangled gasp, her hands grasping the table. "Fuck," she heard him mutter when he was fully seated. He kissed the back of her neck and began slowly rocking their bodies.

Buffy still felt sensitive from all he'd already done to her, every move he made had her whole body shaking.

As she made whimpering noises, she heard him go back and forth between grunting and telling her how amazing he thought she was. Her head was swimming too much to make out any sort of words, just pleaded with him for more through a series of moans and cries.

Speed picked up quickly with their combined need. One hand remained on her while his other grasped the side of the table beside her.

Angel lifted her slightly, and Buffy's body shook. "Oh God," fell from her lips and as he thrust into her, she the wave of pleasure hitting her, nearly blinding her. He continued thrusting her hard and fast until he reached his own climax.

OoOoO

Both were panting hard. Buffy was sprawled out, Angel doing his best to keep his weight from crushing her. He finally gave up though, allowing himself to fall down to the floor. He let out a breathly laugh, grabbing her and taking her down with him. She let out a "Yeep!" as she went, crashing down on top of him.

Angel kissed her before she curled up on top of him, listening to his pounding heart.

"Holy fucking hell."

She chuckled and nodded in agreement.

Angel's hands rubbed down her sides, her back. She nuzzled closer to him, feeling beyond content. She was sure she probably could have fallen asleep just like this, but then she felt a certain area of his body come back to life. Buffy tilted her head and found him looking down at her, smiling. He cocked an eyebrow and had her bursting out into laughter as well. "Ready to take me to bed now?"

He pulled her down to him, closing his mouth over hers. "Absolutely," he told her and rolled them before lifting her up and carrying her through the house until the got to his room.

Angel laid her down on his bed, following down on top of her. Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck, legs around his waist. He kissed her softly, one hand reaching between them and guiding his way back to her. Buffy bit down on her bottom lip as he stretched her.

Their bodies melted together, this time everything moving at a slower pace. Buffy's hands explored him, scratching at his backside, rubbing his hard muscles. There was a nice sheen of sweat on both of them, their breathing heavy in the darkened room. "You are so fucking beautiful," Angel whispered in her ear before licking, nibbling on her earlobe, her throat.

Buffy groaned and began moving so they flipped over, changing positions. She put her palms on his chest and began moving up and down against him. His head fell back, eyes closing. She bit her lip, taking him in. Angel's hands were restless on her... he cupped her breasts, her ass, scratched down her back. When she picked up speed, he grabbed at her hips, helping her crash against him.

"Angel," she breathed out. "I..."

One hand left her hip, coming to her throbbing bundle of nerves. Her voice cut off from actual words, coming out in jumbled moans. "Come on, baby," he told her, pinching her and giving a tiny twist.

"Angel!" she screamed, her nails digging into him, her hips jerking.

OoOoO

Laying next to one another, their hands joined, harsh panting the only noise being made.

Angel gave it a few extra minutes before gathering her back up in his arms, pulling her to him. He kissed her temple, played a hand in her messy hair. "Stay the night," he said softly.

She smiled, turning her head to kiss the inside of his arm around her. "If you want me to."

He pulled her even tighter against him. His kissed the back of her neck, her shoulder, her upper back. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she felt safe, wanted, happy.

OoOoO

Buffy reached into the large bathtub and took a moment to figure out how his knobs worked, finally getting them going she let it run for another moment before putting her hand under the running water. Giving one side another small turn, she reached to let the water begin flowing from the shower head instead. Pulling the shower curtain over, she gave another test to the water before stepping away to let it warm up in there.

Letting out a breath, Buffy used one hand to lift up her hair, the other to use a fan against her. She was still warm from the previous activities with Angel.

The thought alone brought a blush to her face. Buffy spotted herself in the large mirror in there and had to laugh. One glance at her and you'd know exactly what she'd been up to.

When she was about to climb into the shower, she finally heard him enter the bathroom. He smiled, holding up the two glasses of wine he'd ran to grab. Buffy took hers, taking a big gulp. From over the rim of the glass she looked him over... naked without a care about it, and absolutely male perfection. Buffy watched him steal a drink from his own glass before setting it down and coming back towards her.

Buffy found herself back in his arms, moving her wine glass from her face to allow him to dip in, stealing a long kiss from her. He picked her up easily, carrying her over to the counter so she could sit her glass next to his then back to the shower. He pulled the curtain back and entered with her in his arms.

She was on fire still from earlier, but the warm water felt amazing against her all the same as it splashed down on top of them.

Angel pushed hr back up against the wall for several minutes before finally lowering her down, but keeping one hand on her as she turned around into the falling drops. Buffy stepped back closer to him, letting her head fall back and rest on his shoulder. He kissed her temple, her cheek. Buffy's lips turned into a small smile when she felt his hands moving, coming to cup her breasts in each palm. "Mmm," she moaned, keeping her eyes closed.

"You have no idea how much of my life has been spent in a shower daydreaming about you," he told her softly.

Buffy chuckled at that. "Really now?"

He nodded against her neck. "I can't remember how many times I was late to school because I was so caught up in my fantasy of having you in here with me."

Buffy laughed again, feeling herself blush a little over the idea of that.

OoOoO

Buffy bit down on her bottom lip as Angel's hands roamed over her, soaping her up. His lips danced their way from one shoulder to the other as he covered her body in soapy suds, taking a few extra seconds to graze at her most intimate spots. Switching places so she could rinse off, Buffy let the water wash her front side off before turning to face him. Her hands came up to cup his face drawing him to her and kissing him hard. His body came crashing into hers and she wasn't surprised to find him hard and ready once again. She moaned, pressing her body into him, before snaking one hand down his body until her fingers found the hard rod.

Something about touching him like this stirred something in her she hadn't felt anywhere before. She loved the feel of him, hard and throbbing, against her. Her fingers slid down his length before wrapping around him, beginning a slow stroke.

Buffy felt her own legs shake as she moved, something about this turned her on more than anything else... imagining him inside of her, feeling wanted by his reaction, how he felt... it was almost too much to handle.

Angel's hands grabbed her ass roughly, pulling her back to him though her hand didn't let go of its death grip on him. He turned them so she was back against the wall but allowed some breathing room once she was in place so that she could continue her play. His hands squeezed her ass a few times, making her moan into his mouth.

One of his hands left her and she felt them tilt slightly as he grabbed the body wash from a shelf. He used one hand to squeeze some liquid on his hand before snapping the lid close and putting it back on the shelf and straightened the two of them back up. His fingertips dipped into the liquid and Buffy soon found herself jumping a little when she felt the cool gel touch her.

Where it was touching her was included, too.

Buffy felt her pulse pick up speed as she felt his very talented fingers slipping down the parting of her backside until they reached the puckered bud, gasping when she felt him drawing small circles against her. At first panic wanted to hit her, not having ever let anyone go down that road with her before, but as he continued she felt herself somewhat relaxing, enjoying.

When she felt a fingertip beginning to push against her, her hand squeezed him roughly, making them both groan loudly.

"Relax," he whispered. His other hand joined hers, guiding her back to stroking him. Buffy let out a shaky breath, lightening up a little on her own grip. Again his fingers began to circle around her underside in rhythm with her. "Keep going," he whispered against her ear when she paused, feeling him starting to enter her again. She continued, her hand moving up and down his soft flesh, and she felt a finger slowly push through. She let out another shaky breath, followed by a few long ones when he began to slowly move the digit in and out of her.

"A-Angel," Buffy moaned as the sting wore off, her nails clawing into his forearms.

With a quick kiss, his finger retreated and he removed hers from his manhood. She groaned but soon found herself hoisted up into his arms and quickly wrapped herself around him, clinging on for dear life. He kissed her hard and made little time reaching between them to guide himself into her entrance.

Buffy could only cling to him as he used his arms to bounce her up and down over him.

The water soon started to cool, then turned cold, like tiny droplets of ice all of a sudden. Buffy shrieked when she felt herself flying in the air suddenly. Angel moved them over so he could shut the water off, pushed her up against the wall, taking her until they were both spent.

When they finally got their barrings, he lowered her gently to the ground, reached for the towels and helped wrap her up before covering himself. He kissed her quickly before opening the shower curtain then helped her out as she was still getting her legs back under her.

OoOoO

"Where are my clothes?" Buffy asked after returning to the bedroom. She'd offered to take their empty wine glasses back to the kitchen a few minutes ago. When she returned, she found him already in bed, looking far too inviting.

He eyeballed her, making her feel as if the towel wasn't even there. "On top of my washing machine."

"Mmhmm. And what am I supposed to sleep in?"

He smirked and beckoned her closer. When she reached him, he hooked a finger in the top of the towel where it was tied and gave a flick of the wrist. The fluffy blue warmth fell to the ground. "There you go."

She chuckled at his wiggling eyebrows. "I can't sleep naked!"

He grabbed her quickly, pulling her into the bed. "And why not?" he asked, holding her.

"Because!" Her head tilted and gave a short stare off before he sighed. He got out of bed, giving her a nice view of his naked self, and grabbed a shirt out of a drawer and tossed it her way. Buffy felt her heart nearly explode. How many times had she'd thought about this simple little gesture surrounding this particular man, too?

Angel groaned when she finally had the sense to slip the shirt on. "You're killing me," he told her, returning to bed and giving her a hard kiss.

OoOoO

As Buffy laid in his arms, in his bed, she felt damn near perfect. She was warm, relaxed, utterly tired and ready for dreamland to carry her away. Her back was pressed up against him, curling perfectly in his arms. She could feel his breath on her neck. He had one arm tucked under the pillow, under her head and the other wrapped securely around her waist.

Just as she'd spent a good portion of her years yearning for. How she'd formally gone to bed every night with the imagine in her head of this very thing. How she used o sleep with her back or forehead pressed against the wall to her room, wrap an arm around herself, picture his face and pretend he was there.

"Goodnight, Beautiful," she heard him whisper and it was the last thing she remembered before darkness took her for the night.

OoOoO

When light began pouring in through the window, Buffy groaned, not ready for daylight. She squeezed her eyes but it continue to bother her so she spun around, colliding with the hard body beside her. Her eyes popped open quickly, taking him in, making sure last night wasn't all some very cruel dream and smiled at the scene. With a yawn, she laid her head down in his chest, nuzzling up to him. She threw one arm over his chest, drew one of her legs up over him as well.

Angel's head turned slightly, enough so that he could kiss the top of her head. He mumbled something she couldn't make out and fell back asleep.

Buffy gave herself an extra few minutes of just resting there, taking it in, before closing her own eyes and going back to sleep. This had been the most peaceful she had felt, that she'd slept, in as long as she could remember. The stress and worry had been kept at bay, no nightmares haunting her through the night.

It scared her how much comfort Angel seemed to give her, how much had happened... but, at least for the time being, she wasn't going to ruin it with all the crazy in her head an would just enjoy what was going on for as long as she could.


	4. Chapter 4

Having gotten up for the day, and finally dragging themselves out of the bed, Buffy went to go take a hot bath while Angel said he'd go whip them up some breakfast. He'd carried her into the bathroom and started the water for her before leaving her with a fleeing kiss. She found herself giggling out loud at times as she thought about the events from the previous day, blushing and lowering herself into the water with a silly smile on her face throughout the bath. It was a nice feeling, and she hoped it would continue.

Getting out of the bathtub, she dried off and put Angel's shirt back on before coming out. She could smell the food being made an followed her nose the rest of the way to the kitchen. Her heart gave a little jump upon seeing him... he was moving around the kitchen with grace just as he'd done the night before, and in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts.

"Almost done," he told her when he spotted her, his eyes giving her a lusty look that she'd come to know well.

She smiled and asked him what she could do to help. She got to work on getting the last of the table ready and got their drinks, stealing a piece of bacon in the process and conning him into telling her her clothes had been washed and dried. She went to go get them out, but only slipped on her pair of panties back on and put the rest to the side for now.

And before she knew it, she was sitting back down at his kitchen table, something she now knew quite well after last night, and digging into their breakfast of French toast, eggs, bacon and hash browns. "So, have you called to make sure your shop is still standing yet?" Buffy asked, savoring the last bite of her toast.

He chuckled a little. "I might have checked in while cooking," he admitted.

"All is well then?"

"So they say." Buffy laughed and shook her head. "I guess if they can make it through this weekend it'll give me some peace of mind for the future."

She quirked an eyebrow up. "How so?"

"Well, if I want these weekend escapes to continue with you someone has to run the place right?"

Buffy couldn't help but blush. "Oh, so you're planning on more of these, huh?" she teased.

He reached over to kiss her. "Absolutely."

OoOoO

It didn't take much convincing to get her to agree to stay through the day. And while spending the day naked and in bed with him, she enjoyed their lazy Sunday all the same. After they finished breakfast, the two of them sat there just talking for the longest time about a wide range of topics. They finally decided to get up and clean up after themselves before they did wind up back in the bedroom.

They tried finding something to watch on tv but then got dressed and went out to the closest movie theater in one of the near-by towns. She hadn't heard of most of the titles so had to do a little research on the flicks on her phone before they chose one. Gathering up an arms worth of food, they found their way to the proper room and took a seat.

She found herself having a hard time focusing on the movie while it played though. Sitting here with him was still a little too surreal at times. And he wasn't helping that feeling any by sharing all of his food, leaning over to kiss her constantly, holding one of her hands in his own. And even in a moment of bravery, she scooted over in her seat closer to him, leaned down, laying her head on his shoulder. She felt his head lean down on top of hers, a smile on his lips before he kissed the top of her head.

When the movie ended, they walked out of the theater... Angel behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist, keeping step and asking her what she wanted to do next.

OoOoO

It was still chilly out, but the sun was shining in the early afternoon enough to make it one of the first warmer days so far in the year. Using that to their advantage, Buffy and Angel wound up in one of the parks near the movie theater and ran around like little kids until wearing themselves out. They'd gone down slides, ran, spun on a merry-go-round, climbed monkey bars and the works. Buffy had nearly died of laughter at one point when Angel found himself stuck in one of the smaller slides, and again when he nearly broke one of the toddler rides that she'd fought long and hard for him to even go near. And she'd nearly had a heart attack when while they played around the teeter-totter, he slipped off the back of his end while he was at the ground and her in the air, making her have a quick ride down. he'd swung around the wooden contraption in time to catch her before her butt landed with a hard thump.

Finally wore out, they rested on the swings before deciding to go grab something to eat somewhere. After, they drove around randomly through the town, stopped in a hardware store so Angel could pick up some supplies after she mentioned a few things she needed worked on at the house and he'd wasted no time signing himself up to take care of it despite her protests, then made their way back to Hemery.

Having work in the morning, Angel stopped by his place to grab a few tools before taking them back to her house where he made quick work of fixing up what she'd needed. She watched him from the doorway, telling him multiple times he didn't have to and getting waved off every time. She just rolled her eyes in the end and let him finish.

"Anything else?" he asked. Buffy shook her head. He smiled and bent to kiss her before taking his tools back out to the car and came back in. Buffy found herself back in his arms, his hands around her waist, hers around his neck. "Thank you for coming out with me this weekend," he told her softly, drawing her closer.

Buffy smiled brightly at him. "Thank you for inviting me along," she told him before lifting up on her toes to kiss him. "I had a perfect time, Angel."

He smiled and kissed her again, leaning them both against the large television. "I wish you were sleeping next to me tonight."

Buffy blushed a little. "I think you'll live," she said just above a whisper. "And you will be seeing me bright and early in the morning."

"Mmm," he growled. "That sounds like an awfully long time away."

She nodded. "It really does," she agreed.

Angel kissed her once more then let out a large sigh, stepping away from her slowly. "Alright," he said in a sigh, "Guess I should head home." Buffy grabbed him, pulling him back to her. Smiling, she pulled him down to kiss him until they were both left breathless. "Fuck," he swore under his breath, kissing her again. "If I don't leave we're both not going to be getting any sleep tonight," he warned.

Buffy groaned, re-releasing him. Her fingers were the last to let go of his and she missed the feel of him instantly.

"I'll see you in the morning," he told her as she walked him to the door.

OoOoO

Angel was fighting every single urge to turn the car around and go back to Buffy's. To strip her down and have his way with her until the break of dawn. Honestly, that seemed like a much better plan than anything else... He sighed, rubbing his eyes. The past few days were unlike anything he could have ever hoped for and he felt like he was walking on clouds right now. This was everything he'd wanted for as long as he could remember... from the second he rolled out from under that car to see her standing before him like she'd just stepped out of a dream, to back when he was a teenager lusting over her day in and day out.

He smirked, an image of her screaming his name playing across his mind... then he was pulled out of it by a strange noise. He glanced over, trying to figure out what it was when he finally saw a hint of light in the side passenger floor. He reached over to grab it, and then his smirk grew. It was as if the heaven's wanted him to go back there, right? Finding that she'd left her phone in his car gave him the perfect excuse to return. And quite honestly, with as hard as it was to leave in the first place, to make it this far without turning back, he kind of doubted his willpower on any of that happening again.

He turned the car around and started back toward's Buffy's.

OoOoO

Buffy let out a huge breath as she closed the door once he had finally disappeared out of sight. She turned to rest her back against it and let out a very girlish squeal before clamping a hand over her mouth and shook her head. Laughing at herself, she reminded herself she needed to grab the box of new checks she'd gotten in at the end of the week so she could prepare a few extra stops in the morning to pay some bills before work. For now, she was going to go change into some pj's and then call Willow to gossip about her weekend before heading to bed.

She'd made it halfway down the hall when she heard her front door open and shut. A smile broke out on her face as she'd been half hoping he'd turn around and stay with her tonight. She turned around, ready to give a nice quip his way but the words and the smile died on her lips as she found it wasn't Angel standing at the end of the hall.

Buffy felt her blood run instantly cold, fear taking a firm grip on her. "Wh-What are you doing here?"

He stood still for a second before taking another step. She screamed, turning to run though she knew it wasn't going to be any use. In mere seconds he was grabbing her. She tried to fight but he fought her down to the floor and she'd never felt more helpless in her life. She forced her to try and function, to come up with a plan... any plan.

She needed away from him, away from here.

OoOoO

Liam sighed, waiting for the train to pass so he could continue on his way back to Buffy's. A smile crossed his face despite the current annoyance at the thought of her and with what plans he had passing through his thoughts.

Finally, he was allowed to go over the tracks and was soon pulling back into her driveway. He grabbed up her phone and started for the door.

He rang the doorbell first, then knocked after a few minutes. His lips twisted a bit and he looked from one end of the house to another before ringing the bell one more time. He gave it a minute before debating whether to give it a few minutes as she may be in the shower or whatever else, to give it up for the night, or to probably cross a line and go on in.

That was if the door wasn't locked.

Liam sighed, giving her house another look before opening the screen door and reaching a hand out to the knob and testing it out. It turned and he let it slowly open, giving a quick peek inside the living room. He knocked extra loudly on the door before calling out her name and stepping inside. "Buffy?" he tried a second time, walking deeper into the house.

It wasn't until he got to the end of the living room and turned to look down the hall that anything looked wrong. Near the end of the hallway was blood spattered across the wooden floor.

OoOoO

Buffy groaned, coming to. She blinked her eyes a few times, wincing as her head protested with thundering pain. One hand come up to the back of her hair, feeling it sticky. She pulled the hand away and brought it in front of her face and she winced again at the sight of her own blood on her fingertips.

"Good, you're awake." She nearly jumped at the voice, her head turning towards the noise. She felt her stomach wanting to give out. He smiled at her. "I am sorry I had to be a little rough with you back there."

She swallowed. "What are you doing here?"

Another smile. He walked over and took a seat beside her. "I came for you, Buffy. I want to make things right between us."

At that, she let out a bitter laugh. Anger crossed his face briefly before he put that eerie smile back in place. "I love you," he told her.

Buffy remained silent, biting her tongue.

"I was released from the hospital and came home to find you gone. That broke my heart, Buffy. More than you can imagine. All I thought about that whole time was how messed up things were and how we could work through them, to be better. But you left... and it took forever to find you." Buffy's hands fisted. "I know things hadn't been great with us for awhile," he finally spoke again. "But it'll be different now."

Buffy glared at him. "There is no 'now', Riley. We are over. We were over before you went psycho on me. We were over before I left. We were over, we are over, we will forever be over." She had spent too long playing along with him, afraid of the consequences, quite frankly. She was pissed off right now more than anything else. All she wanted was to be free of this monster.

In a flash, he was grabbing her, pulling her to him. Buffy yelled but then was muffled by his lips crashing on hers, his teeth cutting her in the process.

OoOoO

Liam was pacing back and forth as the police officers spoke to him and looked around her place. If this wasn't such a small town he was sure he'd be under more scrutiny for having just up and walked into someone else's home and finding this so at least that was one less thing he had to play on his mind. With some of the questions he did get a little panicked over, not knowing much... and that was when he decided to place a call to Willow and Oz.

He was never more relieved to see the redhead in his life.

"Riley Finn," Willow said as soon as she entered the house. "That's who you need to be looking into. Riley Finn."

The officers took down some quick information from Willow before going back to this person. "Who is this Riley Finn person?" they asked. "Why do you think they have anything to do with what happened here."

Willow sighed, looking down the hall before looking back away quickly. She looked at Liam then back to the officer. "He is Buffy's ex-boyfriend. They lived together back in North Carolina, and why she ended up back here in Hemery. She was running away from him."

Liam ground his teeth together at this new information. "Why?" he asked before anyone else could.

She let out another deep breath. "They had been together for awhile... things were fine at first but then she moved closer to him and eventually in with him and things took a turn. Buffy said he just started becoming very controlling towards her, that he didn't like any of her friends, didn't like her going anywhere without her... things like that. He was very jealous, too. She would try to leave him but every time she did he would start saying how his life would be over, he'd kill himself without her... he would cut himself up or take pills and things like that to keep her from leaving him."

The officers made some notes. "Do you know if this Riley Finn was ever abusive towards Miss Summers?"

Willow looked down at her hands. "Yes, he was." Liam growled. "Besides those... he was verbally abusive to her, always putting her down, yelling at her... Physically..." Willow swallowed. "She said there were three instances where he had been. One was he had grabbed her, shook her and threw her on a couch. Another he pushed her back into a wall. Then this last time was what had her leaving him and North Carolina for good."

"What happened?"

"Buffy said that she had kicked Riley out of their house, being fed up with everything. She had ignored him... his attempts at trying to get her back and even when he'd threaten to hurt himself... refusing to give in. Then one night he came back, broke into the house and told her he was moving back in and they were going to be together whether she liked it or not. Buffy told him no and he stalked over to her, grabbing her, picking her up and throwing her on the ground. He pushed her face into the floor before getting up and kicking her before walking away. When she got up she ran and grabbed her phone to call the police. He started to apologize, begging her back, and she went off on him. He went to another room, grabbed a knife and was threatening to kill her first before turning it on himself. He wound up cutting up his wrists then even slit his throat before the police arrived. The police officers talked to them, an ambulance was called, Riley was taken away in it. She finished making a report and then pretty much packed up her things, cut ties to everything and everyone back there, and came running back here."

"Do you know what happened to Riley after this incident?"

Willow shook her head a little bit. "I heard that he was taken to the hospital then transferred to another one, a VA hospital-he's ex military, and locked up in a sort of psych ward. And that was the last I knew of it." Liam started pacing, fuming.

"Could you describe Riley?"

Willow nodded, pulling her purse around and bringing out a piece of paper. "I printed off a photo she sent me once before rushing over here."

Liam grabbed it before the officer could, giving it a quick one-over. If he dared to see anyone even close to resembling this asshole...

OoOoO

"Are you okay?"

Liam turned as he felt Willow's hand on his shoulder. "No," he answered. He felt helpless. "You really think it's this asshole ex of hers?"

She nodded. "I really do. I mean, who else would it be?"

He almost asked her if she thought he would hurt her, but he already had so the answer to that was already known. He sighed, wishing there was more he could do. "I knew she had to of run from something to wind up back here, hell I even suspected something similar... but she never wanted to talk about it," he told her.

Willow nodded, taking a seat beside him on Buffy's sofa. "It wasn't exactly something she wanted broadcasted to the world."

His hands went up to his neck, rubbing his tense muscles. "I should have stayed," he whispered.

"You didn't know, Angel."

"No, but that doesn't change anything either for me. I should have stayed. Or turned around sooner. I was gone less than ten minutes."

Willow reached for his hand. "We're gonna find her, Angel."

OoOoO

Buffy fought against him. "Get off of me!" she screamed, pushing him away with everything she had. She jumped up, eyeing the first door she saw.

Riley growled. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"What is wrong with me?! What the fuck is wrong with you, Riley? You're the one stalking me, kidnapping me, attacking me! I do not want to be with you, Riley. I don't want anything to do with you. I just want to forget everything about you and move the fuck on with my life!"

He grabbed a handful of stuff from a desk and threw it wildly around the room. "Because of him?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Because of who?" she asked.

"The mechanic you're fucking." He gave a sickening smile at her reaction. "Oh, yes, Buf. I am well aware about that. I've been watching you for the past two weeks since I figured out where you must have run off to."

Buffy felt herself shiver but forced it away. "It has nothing to do with him or anyone else. It's you. It's all on you."

"Me? What the hell did I do?"

She laughed bitterly, her hands flying into the air. "What have you done? Are you kidding me right now? Riley, what the fuck didn't you do?" she asked angrily. "You did nothing but abuse me-mentally, emotionally, verbally and even physically. You cheated on me repeatedly then had the nerve to turn around and constantly accuse me of doing something with every Tom, Dick and Harry in the book-when nothing, absolutely nothing, was going on. You did nothing but make me miserable! You would threaten me and your own self, manipulating me into staying in this relationship when all I had wanted was out, to escape you. I hated you, resented you... You made me hate my own self and everything in my life. You took everything from me!"

"It wouldn't be like that now!"

She laughed again. "It never will be. We go through this every single time. It's always going to be different. It's always going to change. It's always going to be this won't ever happen before it turns into it won't happen again then it won't again, again, then it really won't this next time and so on. It's always the same, it's a never-ending cycle with you. And even if things did change it wouldn't matter, Riley. Not at this point. I fell out of love with you... a long time ago. I don't want to be with you. Too much has happened, changed."

"I can make you love me again."

"No, you can't," she said angrily.

"I don't accept that," he told her.

"I couldn't really give a flying fuck," she spat out. "That's how it is. I'm done with you."

OoOoO

After getting into a screaming fit, some vicious words being spat-especially there at the end, Buffy heard him start screaming threats at her and the second she saw him starting to launch for her, she moved. It didn't go as she hoped-but rather expected all the same. She'd turned to run towards the closest exit she could see of the small cabin they were in and got a step or two out when his much larger body plowed into her. She screamed as she felt him touching her, as her body fell towards the ground. Buffy clipped her temple on a wooden chest and fought with all her might not to pass out again. Honestly, she wasn't sure what would happen to her if she gave into the darkness... or even if she'd ever wake back up from it.

Buffy's hands went down to where his were on her and she began pushing him away, her body wiggling, fighting against him. He screamed at her more but she tuned it all out. She had heard all he'd had to say before, and she'd heard enough of it, too. He could degrade her all he wanted, tell her in the next breath how much he loved her, he could promise things would be different, turn around and threaten him and her both. She was well over this stupid cycle with him.

When he managed to flip her over, she landed back on the ground with another hard thud, her already damaged head bouncing off the floor. Riley's hands began ripping at her clothes and she felt a new panic rising in her. His eyes, his face were wild and shook her to the bone. She screamed as loud as she could and began doing anything possible to get him off of her. She screamed, wriggled, kicked, scratched, pushed with all she had.

One of his hands reached between them, and he began groping at her through her clothing, before sliding a hand underneath. Buffy's eyes squeeze shut as she continued to try and get away, praying she would. And soon she found an opening. Riley leaned back to try and go for the buttons of her jeans, giving her more room in the process. In a flash, Buffy yanked her legs up toward her body then kicked at him with all she had before rushing back up on to her feet, grabbing a lamp nearby and tossing it at him. She didn't know how much damage she'd managed... he'd landed loudly, and he was groaning... but she turned to run instead of assessing the situation any further.

Out the door, her eyes went from one side to another trying to figure out where they were. It was dark out, and the best she could make out was they were in the woods. Buffy began to head down the hill in a rush, moving as fast as her legs would allow. And when she saw some other cabins and a gravel road she let out a breath.

There were no lights on in the log cabins but she pounded on the doors, looked inside, before moving along. She looked one way then the other before deciding on a direction to follow. And it wasn't too long before she knew where she was once she spotted the river below. She then knew roughly where she was.. which was both a blessing and a curse.

OoOoO

Buffy heard Riley in the distance shouting her name. She stilled, her breath coming out in heavy pants. Buffy knew there were several more cabins out here but doubted anyone would be there. The only one who had a permanent residence was empty as she'd already learned and the next closest possibility at finding help was still a long ways away. She didn't know the woods up here very well, and it wasn't exactly smart to be trolliping through them to begin with. She was currently following the trail of the road from a hidden place in the trees but suddenly decided to turn back around, going back towards the water.

Buffy looked over the side of the cliff she came to. This wasn't anything like the death road one Willow and Oz lived near, though it wasn't exactly inviting either. She was still well above the water, a slope of hard earth just a step away. Buffy was trying to carefully find her footing, going over the small wooded edging to the road, when she suddenly heard her name again.

He sounded closer than he should. Buffy turned to look over her shoulder and lost her footing in the process. Her arms went up in the air as she began sliding down.

OoOoO

Willow and Liam banded together to try and find some other way to help out. Phone calls, texts and emails started being made... including one to Buffy's father which he wanted to kick himself over for not having done sooner. They posted online to anywhere they could think of then printed out some photos and quick information before heading into town to start questioning people.

Hemery was a small, Mid-Western town. Someone had to know something.

OoOoO

Liam went racing into the police station, gaining everyone's attention briefly. He was out of breath as he looked around the room. Willow came over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Mister Rayne has some new information," she told him as she mentioned on the phone call that had him rushing over here.

Ethan Rayne was the latest owner of The Cave restaurant and began to re-explain that he'd been at the gas station where the cashier had her laptop open behind her and saw the Facebook alert posted she had up. From there he explained how he had gotten a call about two weeks ago from someone looking to rent out one of the cabins. As it was still off-season for that he thought it was odd but they insisted so it was set up. And that the guy in the flyer was who he'd met up with to give the keys to.

Ethan said he'd seen him only once since then but hadn't paid much attention since there hadn't been any trouble.

OoOoO

Liam refused to stay behind and no one wanted to argue with him any longer. Lights and sirens were going, the patrol cars racing through the streets of the town and on out through the country. Liam sucked in a breath as they started seeing signs directing toward the cave, his eyes searching endlessly for something, anything.

They got to the graveled parking lot and waiting area of the old restaurant, then ignoring the signs stating no vehicles were allowed up, they started up the large hill. They passed the picnic area, took the curved roads, passed one of the small lakes, a few of the cabins. When they got as close as they could to the particular cabin they were looking for, the stopped. Liam was told to stay in the car, and at first he did... watching them out the window as they got out, gathered, spoke out of the loud speaker then began making their way toward the small cabin.

He was out when some of the officers started coming back down. And he began slowly moving away as they explained the situation. That no one was found inside but obviously someone had been in there, and recently. They described it was a mess in there, looked like there'd been a struggle. That it looked like she had tried to get away. Liam began moving away from them, his eyes searching the woods around them. He knew they'd be getting together to do the same, hell probably just the townspeople would show up soon to help too.

One officer seemed to following him... but he paid no mind.

He was about to look over towards the river when he heard noises that had him rushing to the ledge. His eyes scanned until he spotted the figured below. The larger of the two was just pulling the smaller figured out of the water. Even before he'd turned her over so she was on her back, he knew who it was.

Liam stepped over the protective fencing and began racing down the rocky slope toward them.

"Angelus!" the officer shouted. Liam heard him swear then heard the sounds of him following behind.

Riley Finn's head turned so fast you'd think it'd have snapped. He began to stand up.

Liam growled, running uneasily down the hill, trying not to slip on the grass, a rock, the dirt or run into a tree. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Buffy laying wet and lifeless on the ground. He growled, pushing forward and soon his large body was spearing right into the blonde man.

"Oomph!" fell from Riley's lips as they went up in the air. Then the next thing Liam heard was the splash of water, followed by its rushing.

The water was freezing as they hit and then fell under. He ignored it though. He started pushing away from the other man some. He found his head breaking back up into the cold night air and took a large gasp of it into his lungs, then swung one fist downward as the other pulled the other man's head up above water as well. The sound echoed sickening around them as his fist connected.

He kept swinging, his other hand holding Riley by the collar, pulling him back up above water each time.

"Angelus!" he began to hear. Fuzzy at first, but then it began to get clearer with every yell.

He let go of Finn, letting the blonde slip back under the river's chilling water. His breath came out in heavy pants. His lungs hurt, as did the rest of him, and he could see his breath now. His head turned and his heart sunk. The officer was over Buffy's body and he was performing CPR on her.

He looked panicked. "She's not breathing," he shouted. "She's not breathing," he repeated. "I-I can't get her to breathe."

Riley was behind him now, as he tried making his way out of the river. He pushed the officer out of the way, beginning to preform CPR on her himself. 'This cannot be happening,' his mind screamed. "Come on, Buffy, come on," he said out loud, his hands pushing on her chest.

She was drenched, freezing, unmoving. Her skin looked ashen in the little light they had.

Above, the other officers began to spot them. The one beside him yelled up they needed an ambulance. A few started down the hill. He somewhat understood one going out into the water to get Finn. But none of that mattered. All that did was that he needed her to breathe. He needed her chest to move.

OoOoO

When Buffy woke up, it didn't take her very long to figure out where she was. Even before she was able to open her eyes she started honing in on the sounds, the smells, and knew she was in a hospital room. It didn't take long to remember why that was, either. All of the horrifying events came rushing back to her at once, forcing her eyes to pry their way open and she sat up with a start. This was neither an easy task to do, nor a pleasant one. Buffy winced in pain, squeezing her eyes back shut as her head pounded.

Buffy felt movement beside her and jumped when she felt someone touching her.

"Hey," she heard Angel's voice softly saying. His voice was rough, but soothed her over instantly. "You're okay."

Buffy gave it a few seconds, then she started opening her eyes back up. She hurt, there were wires coming out of everywhere, and everything around her was too bright. Her eyes falling onto Angel almost hurt the most as he looked like a trainwreck.

Buffy swallowed painfully and one of his large hands came up to cup the side of her face. His thumb traced along her eyebrow, then fell down her cheek. "I thought I lost you all over again," he whispered, his body nearly shaking.

"Wh-what happened?" she barely croaked out.

He stared at her so long that she didn't think he would answer, but when he did go to open his mouth to say something, she heard the door opening, footsteps, along with a few familiar voices and one that wasn't. Both looked over towards the door to see a nurse come in, followed by Hank and her step-mother Jenny.

Buffy felt a complete unease fall over her as she watched their shocked faces, their rushing over to her. Buffy looked downward, feeling Angel moving beside her again. He'd propped himself up beside her on the bed after she'd sat up and now was putting his arms around her waist, laying down beside her body.

Swallowing again, she did her best to remain calm, answer questions they were shooting at her. She sunk herself deeper again Angel. Her relationship with her father was already strained without this having happened. She could count on one hand for how many people had known the entire truth to what drove her out of North Carolina... Hank she'd skimmed over the details so much, Angel she'd never wanted to go into about with, but now here they all were.

In this moment she felt humiliated and ashamed. She knew better, but that didn't make it any less true.

Buffy wanted to ask them questions for what happened, how she got here, what all was wrong with her... she wanted to ask bout Riley... but she just did her best to keep her mouth shut.

In her head though, her thoughts were running a mile a minute.

OoOoO

"He's not left your side," Buffy heard Jenny say. She looked up at her step-mom then over at Angel. She didn't doubt it by the looks of him.

Buffy nodded, still mulling over everything.

They had filled her in on a few things by now. She knew the extent of her injuries and what had happened while she was out of it, how she'd been found, and what was going on with Riley at the moment. Honestly, she wanted to repeat what brought her here and just run from it but after this she knew that wouldn't be the smartest choice. Given the chance, Buffy was sure he'd always track her down and she'd spend her days always looking over her shoulder for him.

When she fled out of North Carolina she'd known she could have-should have-pressed charges against him then, but stupidity won over. She was pretty sure she'd been granted at least a temporary fix the night everything hit the fan while he was bleeding all over the place and acting like a psychopath. At the time she wasn't thinking about that though, only following the urge to get away, to take the first real chance she'd been given since meeting him to get away.

OoOoO

When a nurse finally came to check on her, Buffy was informed there would be police officers stopping by soon to speak with her. She nodded, swallowing down the nerves and shame coursing through her at the idea. This whole thing was just more than she'd ever wanted to deal with. She hated herself so much for letting it get this bad, for so long. She knew she should have cut ties with Riley forever ago, saved herself such trouble.

Hank and Jenny stayed for awhile before going back home, telling her to call them if she needed anything. Buffy nodded, thanking them. Jenny had done most of the talking, but Hank had gone out of his way to try and comfort her, which she could appreciate.

A nurse popped her head in to check on her, but then it was back to just her and Angel.

Buffy looked the room over, then herself again, then she let her eyes fall on Angel. She stared at the ugly markings adorning his hands. "What happened to you?" she asked.

Buffy's eyes looked for his. He looked confused for a moment then watched as she looked back down at his hands. He clenched them tightly. "Punched someone in the face a few good times," he told her. "And later, a wall."

From his tone that he tried and failed at hiding, she knew who that 'someone' was.

Buffy could only nod and look away. She didn't know what to say to him, didn't want to know what he might think of her now. One second everything was perfect, just starting to really happen for the two of them... and then all of this happened.

Buffy felt his arms tightening around her. She looked down and her heart nearly broke at the look on his face.

"I shouldn't have left," he strangled out. I knew that the whole time. I shouldn't have left," he repeated. "I turned around, Buffy... I was on my way back but by the time I got there... you were already gone."

Buffy felt her stomach wanting to give out.

Angel sat back up beside her, his hands both coming up to cup her face in them. Buffy felt tears spilling from her eyes, hitting his thumbs.

His head leaned forward, he kissed her softly. "I'm so sorry, baby," he whispered at her before kissing her gently once more.

Buffy shook her head. "You didn't know anything about it," she whispered. "And if it hadn't been then, it just would have been another day and time with him."

He shook his head, burying it into the crook of her neck. His arms fell back down to her waist, hers playing in his locks of hair.

"I thought I'd lost you," he whispered against her. "You weren't there, there was blood in the hall. We searched and searched, but nothing... Then we headed out to the cabins and missed you again," he rushed out. "Then you were lifeless in the river, being pulled out... we couldn't get you to come back to us. They worked on you for hours on the way here, then once they got you in... they told us you weren't going to make it, there was nothing they could do... then something changed and we've just been waiting..."

Buffy stroked his hair, letting him fall apart against her, feeling like she was about to do similar.

"For years you were the only thing in the world I wanted, but I was too shy-too scared to do anything about it. Years later, I still had that feeling about you, Buffy. I thought about you way more than I probably should have. Especially when I got back out this way, because it was all just a reminder at times. Then, you just show back up one day and turned everything upside down for me. It was like a second chance laid out in front of me. I just got the nerve to go after it. I just got everything I've wanted for so long. I can't lose you, Buffy."

Angel leaned his head back, meeting her eyes. His words sucker punched her in her very core.

He propped himself up on his elbow, using his other hand to bring her down to him, kissing her.

OoOoO

Speaking to the police answered more questions for her than anything else. She'd not wanted to go over all of the details with her father and especially not Angel just yet so she was grateful for their walk through, questions and answers. She told them she wanted to file multiple charges against Riley and they assured her they would help do just that, taking their time to speak over everything, and going out of their way to make sure she was feeling alright.

They'd let Angel stay in for most of the meeting, but eventually had asked him to step out. He wasn't happy about it-not then, not now. The entire time he was pacing in front of the door. Every so often they'd all stop what they were doing and look his way, his eyes always burning holes into the room.

"I think you got your hands full with that one."

Buffy looked up, smiling at the officer who was now standing.

"In a good way," he quickly added, looking embarrassed.

She could pretty much read his thoughts given all that was going on. She smiled again though, nodding at him.

While they gathered their things to go, Buffy let her mind wander to the very place she didn't want it to go. She let the thoughts cross through her mind for what was going to happen once she was released, the court involvements ahead of her, and wondered how she was going to be able to leave here, leave him, once everything was settled.

OoOoO

"Anything else you might want me to grab?" Angel asked.

Buffy shook her head, her eyes glancing toward the house. She hated Riley all the more in this moment, for turning her childhood home against her even more than it'd been, of making her afraid of it. Memories of the attack flashed before her eyes and she felt a sudden rush of panic.

Angel reached out for her hand, calming her some. "It's okay," he told her, his voice just about a whisper.

He stayed with her out in the car until she seemed to calm down some before hurrying inside to fill up a new bag. She'd been released from the hospital, told she could go home, but that was too much for her to handle just yet. Angel had wasted no time in offering to take her to her dad's, to Willow's, and of course asking her if she wanted to stay with him.

The latter was exactly what she wanted.

They'd filled those who needed to know in on where she would be for the time being and began their exit from the hospital. They were only stopping so Angel could run in and grab a few things that she was needing, but it was hard enough for her to even be out in the driveway at this point.

Buffy had felt those worries and thoughts starting to bubble back up to the surface just as the front door opened back up and Angel stepped back out on to the porch. She let out a huge breathe as she watched him lock the door and start heading back her way.

OoOoO

"You hungry?"

Buffy shook her head, her eyes following Angel as he moved around the house. It felt like their date, their night together, was a lifetime ago as she stood in the middle of the room.

"Okay," he whispered, coming over to her and dropping a kiss to her forehead. "Maybe later?" he offered. "You want to go lay down? Take a shower?"

Buffy agreed to the shower as that sounded heavenly right now. She'd had sponge baths at the hospital-which were no help. She felt gross, was sure the saline smell and taste were implanted in her forever, and would like to wash it all away.

Angel set the bathroom up for her, getting her fresh towels, putting her toiletry items in there along with her bag of clean clothes, lighting a candle and bringing her in a glass of juice as well as a snack cake and a bag of chips for in case she did get hungry. He helped her start to undress, his movements careful, his fingers lightly dancing over any evidence of her attack.

Down to just her underwear, Angel held her for a moment and kissed her before saying he'd just be in the bedroom and to come get him if she needed anything. A large part of her wanted to ask him to stay but she kept her mouth shut, watching him slowly retreat out the door and began to focus on the task before her.

OoOoO

Liam was surprised when the door opened and Buffy stepped out. She was still wet from the shower, steam coming off of her even, but more importantly she was still only wrapped up in a towel as she took a few more steps closer to him. He swallowed at the sight. Bruised and beat up she was still far too tempting like this. "Everything okay?"

Buffy nodded, looking at the ground for several more seconds. Then, "I know I've said this many times now... but I am sorry for everything."

"You have nothing at all to be sorry about, Buffy. Nothing," he told her.

"I should have handled things better than I did. I should have told you. I should have..."

He shook his head, standing to go to her, wrapping her up in his arms. "Stop thinking that way. No one is faulting you for anything and you didn't owe me your whole life story-at least not yet," he added with a hint of a smile.

She sighed, laying her head against his chest. "I'm just so scared, so angry now. I am not that girl," she told him. "I don't know how it happened. I'm not the girl who lets someone push me around and somehow that's what I wound up as. I let someone control me and hurt me and I hate that. I didn't love Riley and for a good long while I didn't even like him, it was just stupid of me to stay for the reasons I did. And it became a never-ending mess."

Liam cupped the back of her head with one hand. "You don't owe anyone-including yourself-an explanation on this, Buffy. Shit happened. Just know that it won't again and that it's all over. And you're going to be stronger in the end because of it."

"But it's not over, not entirely. I mean I know there's going to be putting him away for what all happened but it's also being afraid now, too. It's what else he's ruined for me here now as well. It's fear of that feeling he's going to pop up or remembering that night, being afraid to step inside my house. It's, god, the shame I now carry with me. Fear of all the looks and whispers. Everyone knowing all of this..."

Dropping a kiss to the top of her head, he held her tighter. "I'm not saying this is perfect right now, but it'll get better. That fear is normal, and I am here, as are others, to help you through that. Anything you need. Some things are going to take time and other things, hell, they may stay with you forever. I don't know. But it will get better. If you can't handle a situation you have people who will be at your side or to help you through anything. If you can't go back to that house, it's understandable. There's other places we can get you in to, you have family and friends, and better than any of that... you could stay here as long as you want. This is a small town, a small, sleepy town. People are going to talk. It doesn't matter if it's you were held captive by a crazy ex-boyfriend or you got a speeding ticket around here. You have nothing to be feeling ashamed over. You are not victim here. You're still standing and growing and pushing through this."

She was silent for a long time again. He picked her up and carried her over to the bed, letting her curl herself up in his lap. "I've been thinking about leaving."

He was caught a little off-guard by her voice, having gotten used to the silence. "Leaving?"

"Hemery."

He took in a long breath, his eyes roaming around the room at random. "I don't think anyone could blame you for wanting to get the hell out of here," he finally replied. "That includes me. But then again that's on the list of last things I want to happen." He sighed. "Where would you be heading off to?"

Buffy shrugged. "I really have no idea. I've only ever been here and out there and the distance between the two."

"You could stay."

She turned, now looking up at him from his lap. "I came here running, Angel. I didn't know where else to go. And now all this happened..."

"I know. And I know this is not exactly any ideal location in the world, too. But there are things worth sticking around for, least for awhile."

"Like what?"

"Well, you have quite a bit of family around here. They'd all miss you. Had missed you."

"I have a very strained relationship with my father, in case you hadn't picked up on that. And while seeing my many aunts and uncles and cousins from time to time... there's also phone calls and emails and letters to keep in touch."

"Which you didn't do before," he pointed out. "And it's not the same. And you can work on fixing whatever is wrong with you and Hank. You also have friends here who would hate to see you go again."

Her eyes closed for a moment. "I would miss them. Especially Willow and Oz as I had so, so much over the years and it has been wonderful to have them back in my life."

"You've started building a life here. The house-which is iffy right now, the friends and family reconnecting, you have a pretty nice job set up," he said with a smile.

Buffy laughed at that. "And good co-workers there."

"See, that too. I bet you could even talk your boss into giving you a raise."

She laughed again.

"And there's me..."

The air turned back a little more serious with that around them. He held her gaze for a long time.

"This just started with us, Angel. I mean... we had one date..."

"A very intense date and a lot of time spent before that too. At work, at the diner. Not to mention a whole high school experience of the two of us making moon eyes at one another from across the halls. It's a nice start with the potential to go quite a long way. As for me, I would like to see where that could wind up."

"Even after everything?"

He nodded. "Maybe even more so."

"How's that?"

"Because I want to be with you. I want to be the one who helps you out of this hole of darkness, who treats you as you should be treated, shows you that shit does not have to be like it was with him and that everything can be better. I'm not going to keep you from leaving this little slice of nowhere if that's what you want, but I will say that I want to be with you and want you to stay. Not forever as I sure don't plan on being here forever, but for right now... until the next step is figured out."

OoOoO

Buffy had told Angel she would think about what she was going to do next and it was left at that for the next several days. His offer was more than a little tempting, but she had no idea what she felt was the best option. For now, she'd just let it sit as she got herself back together.

In fact, she'd pretty much been that way with everything. She'd kept in touch with those close to her, seeing a few of them once since coming over to stay with Angel, but hadn't been much for wanting to go do anything just yet so had kept to the house for the most part.

That was until Angel came home from his first day back at work, telling her he missed her and she needed to come back soon, but more the part where he handed her a new dress and shoes and told her they would be going out that night. At first she wanted to protest but was convinced into it easier than she'd anticipated.

OoOoO

"Would you like to tell me what's going on yet?" Buffy asked Willow as they parked in the back lot of the high school. She looked around seeing some decorations around the school along with a few strangling teens dressed up.

Willow smiled evily. "No," she answered. "Come on."

Buffy felt a wave of nerves as they got closer to the school, her hand even shaking as she reached for the side door that was at the very end of the junior high hallway.

The halls of the school were decorated and music was coming from the gym. Her eyes looked around the familiar hallways of the high school. A lot had changed when it came to the paint and decor around the old building, but it still felt familiar and brought back many memories.

And Buffy's heart nearly flew out of her chest when her eyes drifted up the hallway up to the front of the building, seeing Angel standing at the top of the ramp. This was how her almost every school morning had begun, walking in through those doors and finding him standing in that area to kick her day off.

"You two have fun," Willow whispered as she passed her best friend, heading toward the gym.

"What? Willow? Wait!" Buffy called after her but got a laugh from the redhead and nothing more. Buffy's legs wanted to give out as she saw Angel walking toward her, making her feel like she was a teenager all over again.

"That's a nice shade of red you're wearing."

Buffy blushed harder, her hand coming up to fan at her face. "This is a little much," she told him. "Your idea was to come to a high school dance?"

He shrugged. "The garage always makes pretty big donations for one school events or another so I usually get invited to these things. Never came before but it seemed like it could be worth a go. Make up for some lost time maybe. Plus get to relieve a good memory from the past or two. I about fell over watching you walk through the doors, like I did every day back in school. I would get here early and stalk around the top of those stairs just to wait for you to show up."

That certainly didn't make Buffy's face turn back to its normal shade any.

Neither did his reaching out for her, kissing her hungrily there in the hall way and leading her into the large gym where the dance was being held.

OoOoO

"Please do't tell me you booked a hotel room, too."

Angel laughed heartily at that. "No, I didn't do that. Though I do have a room with a very large bed that I wouldn't mind taking you to anyway."

Buffy felt herself blushing yet again, burying her face in his shoulder and chest. "You have some evil power-hold over me, I swear," she muttered.

She could feel him smile against the top of her head.

OoOoO

Buffy wasn't exactly sure when it happened, but somewhere during the night she decided on what she was going to do. At least for now. Angel had been right, this was far from her ideal place, not anywhere she had thought she would want to be let alone stay at any longer than she had to, but there were things worth sticking around for now.

She enjoyed their date at the dance and let him take her back to his place, which was more of their place these days. She happily helped him with undressing one another as they entered the front door and made their way back to the bedroom. They hadn't been intimate in such a way since all the madness had come to light but the motions came easily. She felt safe and secure with him, wanted and even loved as he went out of his way to worship every inch of her.

Before falling asleep, she whispered she would stay. That what was going on between the two of them was worth sticking around for and seeing what might happen next.


End file.
